‘IGP should probe revelations from Paris 2024 Committee’s report’

To avoid a repeat of the unsavoury incidents that dented Nigeria’s reputation at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, a member of the Athletics Federation of Nigeria (AFN) board, Dare Esan, has urged the Inspector General of Police, Kayode Egbetokun, to invite the federation’s technical subcommittee chairman, Samuel Onikeku, to shed more light on his testimony published by the ministerial investigative committee.

According to Esan, apart from the negative exposure, the failure to register sprinter, Favour Ofili for the 100m event exposed the AFN in particular, and Nigeria in general to international ridicule hence the IGP should invite Onikeku to clarify some of the things that he told the investigative committee.

Onikeku was indicted by the committee and recommended for sanctions for his “poor judgment” by not “reporting the hint” and “rumour” respectively that he heard about the non-registration of the athlete for the event.

Esan said according to the report of the committee,, “top officials of the Ministry of Sports Development and the NOC held their Final Delegation Registration Meeting (F-DRM) online on July 14, 2024. By his own admission, Samuel Onikeku first got the ‘hint’ about Ofili’s exclusion from the 100 metres on ‘11th or 12th July, 2024.’

“Perhaps if he had shared his information with the AFN secretariat, the AFN president or other board members, intervention proceedings might have commenced during the F-DRM on July 14 to address Ofili’s omission rather than wait till Favour Ofili came around to discover the omission by herself very late on July 28, 2024.

“In fact, the AFN secretary general expressed surprise when the technical director reconfirmed the ‘hint’ and ‘rumour’ that he heard to the committee.”

Esan added: “The technical director is a chief superintendent of customs, a senior officer in the Nigerian Customs Service. He said he didn’t report what he heard about Ofili’s omission because he didn’t want to be involved in any trouble and that, as a para-military officer, he only obeys the command that he is given.

“I am calling on the Inspector General of Police to invite Mr. Onikeku to clarify some of the things he told the investigative committee, which are quiet revealing,” said Esan.

Specifically, Esan said he wants the former chairman of the technical subcommittee to reveal to the police the trouble he did not want to get involved in, which prevented him from reporting the ‘hint’ and the ‘rumour’.

“Mr. Onikeku should also be made to clarify the command that he was given and who gave the command,’’ Esan added.

On the report quoting AFN President, Tonobok Okowa, as saying that Onikeku and the former chairman of the Performance Subcommittee, Victor Okorie, should retain their positions as technical and performance director of the AFN, Esan said he will only comment on it when he gets the full brief from the board.