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Bayo Ohu: Wife vows to practise
journalism
….as The Sun
management condoles with family
By SAM OTTI
Thursday, October 1, 2009
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•Photo:
Sun News Publishing |
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Widow of the slain Assistant News Editor of The Guardian Newspaper,
Mrs Blessing Ohu, has opted for the journalism profession to continue
the struggle that cost her husband his life.
Mrs Ohu disclosed that her late husband’s passion for journalism
has enkindled in her heart an undying flame to join the vanguard
of truth in the country.
The widow spoke on Wednesday when the management of The Sun Publishing
Limited, led by the Managing director, Mr. Mike Awoyinfa, paid the
family a condolence visit at their Egbeda residence in Lagos.
Mrs Ohu, overwhelmed by the tragedy of her husband’s demise,
on September 20, had retreated into silence since the incident happened.
She broke the silence on Wednesday as she hesistantly granted her
first interview to The Sun.
“ I am going into full-time journalism. I pray God to give
me the mouth to speak, so that I will continue from where he stopped.”
Mrs Ohu noted that her late husband stood always for the truth and
had never resorted to blackmail.
“Bayo Ohu is not a desperate person. He does not blackmail
anyone. He is someone that cannot hurt a fly. He is so gentle that
he hardly argued with anybody,” she stressed.
The widow said she got married to the late Bayo in 1999 and confessed
that her heart was set on fire by the utterance of one of the assailants
who reportedly said callously ‘Olori buruku e ti ku’,
in celebration of the victim’s death.
She described the deceased as a workaholic who spent most of his
time on the job, and wondered how his quiet disposition could incur
such a tragic end.
In an emotion-laden tone, the mother of four said, “I don’t
know how God will erase the mark that these people have left in
my heart…I miss my husband. I miss the father of my children.
I still remember the way he laughs. I miss his passion for journalism.”
Earlier during the visit, the Managing Director of The Sun Publishing
Ltd., Mike Awoyinfa, extolled the deceased as “a great man
of journalism profession.”
“He was a great man, a great journalist, a great man of our
profession. He is a man we are very proud of. He lived true to the
ideals of journalism profession. Wherever he is today, he would
be proud of his achievements on earth as a journalist.”
While consoling the family, Awoyinfa, who was visibly shaken, said:
“When the saints and martyrs of journalism are marching on,
he would be in their number.” He assured the family that Bayo
had gone to a state of bliss, leaving his assailants to struggle
daily with the torment of their cruel act. “The blood of their
evil deeds would continue to hang on their necks,” he said.
Also speaking, the Deputy Managing Director, Dimgba Igwe, assured
the family that the children of light could never be eclipsed by
darkness. He disclosed that over 100 journalists were killed in
separate attacks worldwide last year, and assured Ohu’s family
that the death of their bread winner was not in vain.
Mr Igwe consoled the family as he paid tribute to the slain journalist,
“The light of the family shall shine again and this present
darkness cannot eclipse it. Fare thee well,”
He noted that God remained the husband of the widow, and prayed
that heaven would send its comfort at lonely hours of the night.
He described Bayo’s death as a seed that would flourish in
due time and prayed that heavenly joy would dispel the agonizing
pall of death in the family.
In her response on behalf of the Ohu family, Rita Etabe, commended
The Sun management for the visit which, she said, had brought relief
to the grieving members.
The management team on the visit also included the Executive Director,
Operations, Mr. Tony Onyima, Executive Director, Publications, Mr.
Femi Adesina, Editor, Saturday Sun, Onuoha Ukeh and Editor, Spectator,
Mr. Shola Oshunkeye.
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