The Environmental Rights Action/Friends of the Earth Nigeria (ERA/FoEN) in a statement issued in Lagos described the death of human rights activist and staff – Sunny Olukoya, as a big loss to the environmental justice community and the struggles for righting the injustices in the Niger Delta region.
Olukoya died on Thursday 9, January 2020 and was buried in Benin on January 16, after service of songs which held in his residence in the Edo State capital.
Aside the environment sphere, Olukoya was also an educationist and had previously taught in many schools in Edo State, including Nosakhare Group of Schools, after his graduation from the University of Benin with a B.A Honours Degree in English. He was also the proprietor of Doremi Academy, Benin City, which caters for early child education.
He joined ERA/FoEN in the late 2000s as project officer working on the renewable energy campaigns, a post he held till his demise.
ERA/FoEN said that Sunny Olukoya was a model of relentless and untiring defence of the human ecosystem, a voice of the voiceless and a strong advocate for a just transition away from polluting fossil fuels.
The environmental justice group explained that the environment community will forever remember his commitment to the struggles for environment and social justice amidst his deteriorating health.
“We extend our condolences to his wife Mrs. Ewere Olukoya, his four children and the entire Olukoya family and pray that God will strengthen them at this time of grief. It is also an opportunity for those who know what he stood for to reflect and interrogate on those issues he lived and died for,” the statement read.
