UPDATED: Edwin Clark, prominent Ijaw leader, is dead

A former Federal Commissioner for Information, Edwin Clark, is dead, his family has announced on Tuesday.

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Mr Clark, a prominent leader of the Ijaw ethnic nationality, died on Monday, according to a statement by C. C. Clark, a professor, on behalf of the family.

“The Clark-Fuludu Bekederemo family of Kiagbodo Town, Delta State, wishes to announce the passing of Chief (Dr.) Sen. Edwin Kiagbodo Clark, OFR, CON, on Monday 17th February, 2025. The family appreciates your prayers at this time,” he said in the statement.

“Other details will be announced later by the family.”

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He added that the Ijaw leader was 97 years old.

How Clark died

PREMIUM TIMES gathered that Mr Clark had difficulty breathing on Saturday night which prompted him to be moved to a private hospital in Abuja.

But his condition worsened on Sunday at the hospital, which eventually resulted in his death on Monday night.

Mr Clark’s death happened days after the demise of prominent Afenifere leader, Ayo Adebanjo, who died at the age of 96.

Edwin Clark at a glance

Mr Clark was born on 25 May 1927 in Kiagbodo, an Ijaw-speaking area of Delta State in south-south Nigeria.

The Ijaw leader began his political career in 1953 when he was elected councillor of Bomadi in Delta state.

He would later join the now-defunct National Council of Nigeria and the Cameroons, a political party, before switching to the now-defunct National Party of Nigeria (NPN) in the second republic.

The politician was treasurer of the NPN in the old Bendel state.

Until his death, Mr Clark led the Pan Niger Delta Forum (PANDEF), an organisation of the people of Niger Delta dedicated to promoting and fostering inter-ethnic harmony and security in the region.

Similarly, he led the South-South Peoples Assembly, and the Southern and Middle-Belt Leaders Forum.

He had served as midwestern commissioner of education and later finance from 1966 to 1975.

Mr Clark, at the federal level, was appointed federal commissioner for information in 1975.

The PANDEF leader later served as a senator for three months in 1983 during the Shehu Shagari administration.

He spent the greater part of his life advocating for the rights and development of the oil-rich Niger Delta region, which has suffered environmental degradation caused by oil exploration.