President Of The Ijaw National Congress Tari Sekibo, Slumps and Dies At 70

Senator Tari Sekibo, President of the Ijaw National Congress (INC), was pronounced dead today in Bayelsa state capital Yenagoa. A source within the family confirmed the news of the septuagenarian’s death.

Mr Sekibo was elected the INC President in March 2013. He will be remembered as a prominent indigene of Okrika community in Rivers State, and Chairman of the Unified Okrika Divisional Council of Chiefs.
He was also a Senator in the aborted Third Republic. In 1998, the Federal Government honoured him with a National Award as the Member of the Federal Republic (MFR).
Some sources claim Mr. Sekibo slumped in Government House, Bayelsa State, shortly after he arrived for a meeting with the states’ Governor Mr. Seriake Dickson.
He reportedly clutched at his chest and he fell – signs of a cardiac arrest.

However, this information still remains unconfirmed.
The elderly man was immediately rushed to the Federal Medical Centre, but was pronounced dead by doctors. His remains have been deposited in the hospital mortuary.
Reacting to the news, Williams Mkpa, a member of the INC Executive, said the demise of the group’s President came as a “rude shock.”

“This is a sad, and indeed the saddest, thing that has befallen the Ijaw Nation in the recent past. And at a time we are working tirelessly to reposition the INC for the tasks ahead in the coming years,” Mr. Mkpa said.