Children of late Bayelsa football supporters get scholarships

Children of the four supporters of the Bayelsa Queens Football Club who died in a road accident on June 11 have been granted scholarship to university level by Governor Douye Diri.

The governor also directed immediate employment for their wives, while anyone not employable would be empowered by the state government to set up a business.

Diri directed the Ministry of Trade and Industry to liaise with the Office of the Secretary to the State Government to immediately effect the pronouncement.

A statement on Sunday by the governor�s Chief Press Secretary, Daniel Alabrah, said Diri gave the directive during the funeral service for the deceased at the Peace Park in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State capital, on Saturday.

�Eze Igali, (38), Kurotimi Igali (36), Clement Diripigi (34), and Philemon Ogidi (38), lost their lives in an auto crash last Sunday on their way to Asaba to support the state�s female team playing the final game of the Super Six playoff.

Diri said, �We join the Igali, Diripigi and Ogidi families to mourn these four young men of Eniwari and Fonibiri communities, all in the Southern Ijaw Local Government Area of our state.

�They gave their best to the state. They contributed their quota towards the development of Bayelsa and they died in active service.

�These young men embarked on that trip to bring victory to Bayelsa and to make the image of our state soar higher. Unfortunately, they lost their lives in the process.�

The remains of the four youths were later interred at the Azikoro cemetery in Yenagoa.