Tragedy struck twice in the Nigerian maritime industry on Tuesday as two prominent stakeholders died.
The first to be acknowledged was that of Rector of Maritime Academy of Nigeria (MAN) in Oron, Akwa Ibom State; Mr Joshua Okpo.
He reportedly died in his hotel room in Abuja while preparing for a scheduled appointment.
While the news of Okpo’s demise filtered-in late on Tuesday, that of a frontline clearing agent and member of Association of Nigerian Licensed Customs Agents (ANLCA); Mr. Chuks Kanikwu was broken early yesterday.
Kanikwu who is Managing Director of Owelle Ventures reportedly died at the University of Ibadan Teaching Hospital in Ibadan, Oyo State after a brief illness that started last week.
Sources close to the family, disclosed to our correspondent yesterday, that the deceased freight agent was under the weather as at last week and was advised to go for medical attention.
But before his death on Tuesday around 2pm, the late MAN Oron Rector; Okpo was reportedly under investigation by the Minister for fraud allegedly committed at the academy.
Okpo assumed office at the maritime academy in 2011 and was serving a second term.
A source close to the late Rector confirmed to Shipping Position Daily late Tuesday that, "he was preparing for a meeting with the minister when he had a heart attack and he was rushed to the hospital where he died".
The source also confirmed that Okpo has had a running battle with his health recently.
However, a close associate of the deceased ANLCA chieftain told one of our correspondents that it was the son who broke news of his father’s death. "Kanikwu’s son called us on Tuesday to inform us about his father's death"
"Although I am aware that he was ill as at last week because we went to the CAC's office together and I noticed that the was not feeling fine", the source disclosed yesterday.
The source who is also a member of ANLCA at Tin Can Island Chapter also disclosed that a condolence register has already been opened for the late Kanikwu.
"The sudden death of our colleague came to us as a shock”, he added.
But, Public Relations Officer of the chapter, Mr. Emmanuel Onyeme confirmed his death to Shipping Position Daily in Lagos yesterday. He said that Kanikwu's remains have been transported to his home town in Delta State.
Onyeme described the late Tin Can scribe as one of the best brains that the association has ever had.
He said, "the cause of his death is not known to us yet, we were still together last week Thursday and I only noticed that he was going down in size"
"We were advising him to go and treat himself in the hospital and he went into the hospital from Thursday, until he gave up on Tuesday"
"In this line of our job, you can never know what is coming after your life" Onyeme lamented.
Our correspondent tried to get in touch with the Chairman of the chapter; Prince Kayode Oyinlola but his phones were switched off. The PRO later confirmed that he was devastated when he heard the sad new.
Kanikwu was a former chairman, Tin Can Island Chapter of National Association of Government Approved Freight Forwarders (NAGAFF), from where he crossed to ANLCA. Until his death, he was the secretary of Tin Can Island Chapter of ANLCA.
Discussion about this post