Taraba Speaker, Haruna Tsokwa, Is Dead

Late Haruna Tsokwa

By Sani Tukur

The Speaker of the Taraba State House of Assembly, Haruna Tsokwa, is dead.
Mr. Tsokwa’s age is unknown at this time.
He died of an undisclosed ailment this morning at the Federal Medical Centre, Jalingo, the Taraba state capital.
PREMIUM TIMES learnt that Mr. Tsokwa took ill last Thursday and was rushed to hospital.
Kefas Sule, spokesperson Acting Governor Garba Umar confirmed to PREMIUM TIMES that Mr. Tsokwa had passed on.
“He died this morning, after just a brief illness,” he said.
Mr. Sule however declined to provide further details, saying the government would await the outcome of reports from the speakers’ doctors before making any further pronouncement on the matter.
There were speculations by some of the late speaker’s supporters that Mr. Tsokwa was poisoned, but they could not substantiate the claim. PREMIUM TIMES could also not independently verify the claim.
The late speaker had been a staunch supporter of Acting Governor Garba in the ongoing battle for the control of the state.
Mr. Tsokwa had escaped death by the whiskers on September 19 when suspected gunmen attacked his convoy along the Jos – Abuja road.
He escaped unhurt but some policemen in his convoy sustained various degrees of gunshot wounds during an exchange of fire between them and their attackers.
Mr. Tsokwa attended Federal University of Technology, Yola, and Government Secondary School, Ibbi, for his university and secondary education respectively.
He is survived by a wife and four children.