The sick former secretary general of the Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG), Frank Kokori, has raised the alarm, saying he fears for his life and has been left alone in a hospital in Warri, Delta State.
The All Progressives Congress (APC) leader and aging statesman, who is receiving treatment for a kidney-related illness, reportedly made this heartbreaking request from his hospital bed in the wee hours of Thursday, according to Sun News.
In a voice laden with excruciating pains, Kokori said he was “dead and risen.”
He claimed that NUPENG had left him unattended in a hospital where the air conditioning was turned off, possibly due to a shortage of diesel.
The outspoken labour leader, hailing from Ovu, characterised the facility in Warri as a third-rate hospital.
He was quoted as saying, “Tell the world that Kokori is dead and risen. The only man in Warri who can handle kidney problems is at Horeb Hospital, Warri.
“But I’m facing other challenges. The air conditioner is not working. And AC can keep me alive until morning. What a country!
“Tell them that I can pay any amount, but let them switch on the AC for me because I am dying. The AC went off. Please do your best. I can come alive again, but I just want the world to know that if I survive, I will shame the leaders of this country.
“Shame on them. How can Kokori be in a third-class hospital? The people are trying their best because I know it’s a diesel issue.
“The AC is off. Two of my foster children are here with me. I have sent one to meet the hospital management and tell them that they should do everything so that the AC is switched on and that when I am out, I will pay. I am dying.
“I have called on NUPENG to say that this is what they have done to their leaders. That NUPENG could not even take care of me. It’s sad. God bless everybody.”
The individual in his seventies has reportedly been at the hospital for an extended period.
Kokori played a prominent role in the campaign to restore the mandate of Chief MKO Abiola, the rightful winner of the June 12, 1993, presidential election, which was nullified by then-President Badamosi Babangida and upheld by his successor, the late General Sani Abacha.
