Joshua Ezekiel, an Abuja driver, has been paid N650,000 to repair his car hit by one of Governor Hope Uzodimma’s drivers in Abuja.
This payment followed an FIJ’s story from November 20 detailing how Obadiah Anthony Kigum, a staff driver of the governor at Imo State Liaison Office, bashed Ezekiel’s Peugeot 406 on August 13 at Ahmadu Bello Way, Glo Junction, in the country’s capital.
On Friday, the governor’s staff gave the money to Ezekiel towards repairing his car and putting it back on the road for business.
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“I want to tell you that I just received the money. It is N650,000,” said Ezekiel on Friday evening.
A screenshot of the evidence of payment.
Ezekiel appreciated FIJ for reporting his plight.
“Thank you for everything you did. You were so helpful. I think the governor read the story and he questioned them on why they refused to pay me all this while,” he said.
Ugwu Austin, a chief driver at the liaison office, had invited Ezekiel to their office on Wednesday and promised the money would be paid within the week.
Ezekiel was using the car for his transportation business in the city when the accident effectively grounded it, leading to his inability to provide for himself and his family.
Despite accepting responsibility for the incident, the governor’s staff maintained a slow pace in paying for the repair of the car. They instructed Ezekiel to take the car to their mechanic workshop and abandoned it there for three months, necessitating the owner to contact FIJ for assistance.
“For over three months now, I have been jobless. The incident happened around 2:30 am. I was shuttling for passengers in the early morning of that day at Glo Junction and the driver suddenly hit my car at the back. Instantly, the three passengers I already had hopped into another vehicle and left,” Ezekiel told FIJ in November.
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“I’m tired and getting suicidal already. I have not been able to provide for my family for three months, my younger brother had to borrow money to complete his final year project in school because I could not provide for him. I want to get the justice I deserve by [the state government] fixing my car and compensating me for the weeks and months I have lost.”
For his wasted months of joblessness though, the governor’s office did not compensate Ezekiel.
The post After FIJ’s Story, Gov Uzodimma’s Staff Pay Abuja Driver N650,000 to Repair Car They Damaged appeared first on Foundation For Investigative Journalism.