The first elected female Senator in Nigeria, Franca Afegbua, has died. Aged 81.
She was said to have died in Benin City, Edo State at a private hospital after battling an illness in the last few months.
Her death was confirmed by Kassim Afegbua, one of her younger brothers and a journalist, who served as a Commissioner for Information in Governor Adams Oshiomhole administration in the State and currently a member of the APC Presidential Campaign Council.
He said his sister died Sunday morning and that her body has been taken to the University of Benin Teaching Hospital (UBTH) mortuary.
The late Franca Afegbua, who was born in 1942 and was elected Senator on the platform of the defunct National Party of Nigeria (NPN) in 1983, represented the then Bendel North Senatorial District in the defunct Bendel State.
She served in the upper legislative chamber of the National Assembly from October to December 1983 before the military coup brought the Second Republic to an end on December 31, 1983.