BEVERLY HILLS, May 23, (THEWILL) – The State House Correspondent of Channels Television, Chukwuma Onuekwusi, has passed on, the media house confirmed on Tuesday afternoon.
The management and staff of the TV station said the deceased died at a private hospital in Abuja, in the early hours of Tuesday.
According to the statement, “He has covered several beats on Channels Television before he was seconded to cover the Presidential Villa as the State House correspondent.
“An excellent reporter who joined Channels Television from 1998, he showed great passion for his job.
“A perfect gentleman and a great family man, Mr Onuekwusi was a graduate of the University of Nigeria, Nsukka.
“He also worked at the Imo Broadcasting Corporation, Owerri.
“He died at the age of 55 and is survived by his wife and children.”
Meanwhile, fellow State House correspondents have started paying tribute to the late journalist. Some of them did this using the social media.
The state house correspondent of The Sun, Juliana Obalonye, wrote: “My brother and friend, a thorough professional to the core and a lover of God. To say I’m pained by your death is an understatement. You did assure you will stand up from that sick bed and we will join you for thanksgiving.
“But we are consoled by this scripture, therefore, we do not mourn like those without hope.
“Rest In Peace my brother, I will miss you sourly!”
In a message posted on Facebook, Olalekan Adetayo of PUNCH wrote, “I have lost a colleague, friend and brother. Chukwuma Onuekwusi was a good man. He went beyond being a colleague on the beat, he qualified to be called a friend indeed. He was always calling me, “My friend, Olalekan” and I always responded by saying ‘Chukwu, Chukwu, Chukwu’.
“He was a very hardworking man, one of the attributes that attracted him to me. He was always holding the Channels Television-branded microphone as if his life depended on it. He did that to the point that we joined some people who paid homage to former President Jonathan on a Christmas Day and the former President could not hide his feeling. ‘You are still holding this your thing today again’, Jonathan said, referring to Chukwuma and his trademark microphone.
“I met Chukwuma closely for the first time a few minutes before I got my accreditation to the villa a few years back. We met at the FirstBank in CBD Abuja. There was a long queue and people were impatient. An elderly man took on a young Bank teller who he felt was too slow and called him ‘Baba Go Slow’. Chukwuma turned back and corrected the man politely. ‘That is not fair sir’”.
