Okoro, Calabar
Tragedy struck Cross River State House of Assembly (CRSHA) as a member of the Assembly, Hon. Stephen Ukpukpen, representing Obudu I State Constituency, slumped and died, on Wednesday.
An eyewitness, Michael Ojong, said the lawmaker, slumped and died about 7:00a.m. while carrying out his regular morning exercise along Moore Road, in Calabar, the state capital.
According to the eyewitness, “The deceased lawmaker was initially rushed to the nearby Navy Clinic from, but could not be admitted in the hospital as medical officials on duty suggested that he was in a critical condition.
“On their way to another hospital, he gave up the ghost confirmed dead by medical officials in a private where he was later rushed to.”
His corpse was thereafter taken to the Anatomy Unit of the University of Calabar Teaching Hospital, where he was also confirmed dead.
Reacting to the development, Speaker of the Assembly, John Gaul-Lebo said, “I am in shocked over the development. We are in a meeting with the family of the deceased and the house would later issue a statement over the shocking death of the law maker.”
At Ukpukpen’s official residence in the Assembly Village, Ekorinim I, Calabar, colleagues, family members and sympathisers were seen trying to fathom what might have caused his death.