Encomium
Accept our condolence on the demise of your brother.
Thank you so much.
Can we meet you, sir?
My name is Harrison Madikwu Igwe, the elder brother to Dimgba Igwe, the immediate elder brother from the same parents.
How did you hear about his demise?
On Saturday, his wife called me around past 8 in the morning that he had an accident. That they were taking him to the hospital. Later, another call came and said, they were in the hospital and she was not allowed to see him. I told her maybe they were trying to clean him up or something and I promised to call back in about 15 minutes to find out the situation of things. Before that time, she called back. She couldn’t hold herself and another person took the phone from her and I was told that he had passed on. I live in Port Harcourt, that was when I started coming down to Lagos. While I was at the airport, calls, mails were coming in that made me more devastated. When I got to Lagos, I was told he was jogging when a car hit him. It is very devastating. It is another thing for someone to be sick and receiving treatment, this is just an instant knock-off. The next morning, a lady told us that she was jogging behind Dimgba, she said they saw the vehicle coming. It was approaching them, but Dimgba jumped out of the road. She also jumped off. Before they knew it, the car had hit Dimgba. They went to where he was lying, checked him and she left to bring her car so that they could rush him to the hospital. I also saw two boys who said they saw when he was hit. They assisted in taking him to the hospital (St. Raphael Hospital). He was given first aid before being referred to Isolo General Hospital. From there, they said they did not see a surgeon and was referred to LASUTH. It was at that point they called me.
Did you see the people that testified about the incident?
Yes, I saw them. The lady came here weeping. She said what they saw was like an accident and they took him to the hospital. I think he had a very deep cut and there was much bleeding which the hospitals could not manage. You know our country, any situation you find yourself, you are on your own. If there were good medical facilities, he could have been attended to. Those boys said Dimgba took their phone and called the wife. He was still praying for them and thanking them when they were moving him around. They said he was still conscious. Dimgba was a strong man. The cause of all these is poor health sector. If he was attended to on time, the bleeding would have stopped. I think he gave up at LASUTH. The accident was around 6 a.m, they were still running around till 10 a.m. If there were good facilities, he would be alive. They would have stopped the bleeding.
When last did you see him?
I cannot say specifically. We talked from time to time. I cannot remember, we talked every time.
How will you describe him?
Dimgba is difficult to describe. I will say he was a very meticulous person, a humble man that liked the things of God. He served God throughout his life. He went through several issues but he came out of them all. He was good at what he did, he practiced journalism with honesty. He didn’t take sides. He was a very straight forward person.
What will you miss about his departure?
A lot, I can’t describe. You can feel the pain of people talking all over the world, my voice has gone. A lot of people have been calling my line. The family will miss him. The country will also miss his talent.
We learnt they wanted to operate on him, what kind of operation was it?
Of course. He had a deep cut, maybe they wanted to operate him because of that. We pray that government would provide some of the facilities needed in our hospitals.
Tell us about yourself.
I am an industrialist based in Port Harcourt, Rivers State.
-Stories and interviews by SHADE METIBOGUN and DOLAPO AMODENI
