Senate President, Dr Abubakar Bukola Saraki, on Saturday said he “received with shock” the news of the death of the Deputy Governor of Borno State, Zannah Umar Mustapha.
Saraki in a statement by his Chief Press Secretary, Sanni Onogu, in Abuja, said it was difficult to believe the information that Mustapha, he met in Borno about a week ago during his tour of some Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) camps in Maiduguri could have left this world so soon.
Saraki said: “When I met Umar Mustapha in Maiduguri, he was so full of life that it could not have crossed ones imagination that we were meeting for the last time.
“He came across to me as a complete gentleman who was doing all in his power to assist his principal, Governor Kashim Shettima not only to defeat insurgency in the zone, but to bring succour to the entire people of Borno State, especially those adversely affected by the insurgency.
“It is a pity that today he is not going to witness the imminent end of the mindless bloodletting and destruction of property being visited on a peaceful and hospitable people in the north-east zone of the country.
“We can only take solace in the fact that he lived a good life and died in the service of his people. He was a complete gentleman and a devoted servant-leader. May Almighty Allah grant him a place among the righteous ones in Aljannah Firdaus”, Saraki stated.
The Senate President, also, commiserated with the immediate family of the deceased, the Governor and people of Borno State and prayed to God to grant them the fortitude to bear the sad incident.
He added: “Only the complete and total eradication of insurgency from every part of the north-east and other affected parts of the country can serve as a befitting tribute to this great Nigerian who has departed so soon.”
The Deputy Governor died in Yola, capital of the neighbouring Adamawa State, while on an official duty.
