BREAKING: Nigerian Governor, Commission Chairman Beats Coach To Coma Over Unpaid Funds
Governor Sheriff Oborevwori’s younger brother, Onoriode Oborevwori, reportedly lost his temper and allegedly assaulted the Delta State Head Coach of Kickboxing, Steve Ogom Momah, over an unpaid debt of more than N200,000.
Onoriode is the current Chairman of the Delta State Sports Commission, inaugurated in December 2024 by Governor Oborevwori.
Onoriode, who serves as chairman of the Delta State Sports Commission, is said to have carried out the alleged attack at his office last week, leaving the coach helpless due to professional rules guiding his sport.
According to sources, the kickboxing coach had visited the chairman’s office to discuss reimbursement for personal funds he spent during the 2025 Ogun State Sports Festival. It was during this meeting that Onoriode allegedly assaulted him in the presence of several staff members.
Efforts by the former Director General of the commission, now Executive Assistant to the governor on sports, Felix Ohwojere, to resolve the matter amicably at an early stage were reportedly rejected by Onoriode, who is said to have a reputation for boasting and intimidating staff and athletes.
Some staff members of the commission who spoke to SaharaReporters have called on Governor Oborevwori to intervene, either by disciplining his younger brother or replacing him as chairman.
In a petition titled “A Case of Abuse of Office, Battering and Assault Against Hon. Onoriodo Joshua Oborevwori,” addressed to the union’s chairman, the Delta State Sports Commission in Asaba, the Office of the Head of Service, the Secretary to the State Government (SSG), and the Chairman of the House Committee on Sports at the Delta State House of Assembly, the incident was described as an “unholy development.”
The petition, signed by K.C. Chibo Esq. of the Watchers Chamber, Asaba, on behalf of kickboxing coach Steve Ogom Momah, called for urgent intervention to uphold accountability and restore dignity within the civil service.
The petition reads, “We are solicitors to Mr. Steve Ogom Momah who we shall herein call our clients and on who instructions we write.
“It is our client instructions that his is a staff (member) of Delta State Sports Commission and the Head Coach of Kickboxing in the Commission. On the 10th day of March 2026, at about 10:55 am, our client in sequence of his official duties, visited the office of the Sports Commission chairman in person of Hon. Onoriodo Joshua Oborevwori to request for reimbursement of his personal funds used during the last year Ogun State Sport Festival but was shocked when Hon. Onoriodo Joshua Oborevwori resulted to beating and rough handling him.
“As if the physical battering was not enough, Hon. Onoriodo Joshua Oborevwori called a group of thugs known as ONE BELLE to beat up our client right inside the stadium but thanks to the few staff of the commission who intervened and prevented the said ONE BELLE from beating our client.
“This is an unholy development which if not handled, will set an ugly precedent and thereby subjecting civil servant to inhuman treatment in the hands of political appointees contrary to our labour law practice and provisions of our constitution regarding human right.”
“Consequence of the above, we call on you to intervene in this matter and restore the dignity of civil servant before political appointees who now enslave civil service. We anticipate your co-operation,” the petition stated.
When contacted, Governor Oborevwori’s younger brother, who initially declined to comment, denied the allegation, saying, “Call the Acting GM; she was there when the incident took place.” However, all attempts to reach the Acting GM were unsuccessful, as calls to her mobile phone went unanswered at the time of filing this report.
Similarly in 2018, Tony Okowa, younger brother of former Governor Ifeanyi Okowa and then-chairman of the Delta Sports Commission, was involved in a brawl with former Secretary to the State Government (SSG), Festus Ovie Agas.
A witness said that “dignity and decorum were thrown to the winds as the two officials scuffled and punched each other right inside the office” of the then SSG, when the former governor’s younger brother went to collect a file being handled by Agas.
