Elder statesman and former General Secretary of the Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG), Chief Frank Kokori, has passed away at the age of 80.

He died at a private hospital in Warri at 1:30 am on Thursday, December 7, coincidentally on his 80th birthday.

Kokori had been admitted for treatment for a kidney-related ailment. In his last days, he had made distress calls and sent out messages from his hospital bed, expressing his pain and lamenting being abandoned in the hospital.

Recall that Kokori was a prominent figure in the labor movement, pro-democracy activism and later a chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC). His death marks the end of a chapter in the history of labor activism in Nigeria.

Earlier, the Delta State Governor, Hon. Sheriff Oborevwori; former Deputy President of the Senate, Senator Ovie Omo-Agege; officials of NUPENG as well as several others had visited the ailing octogenarian on his sick bed.