Kelechi Esogwa-Amadi
As the crisis rocking the family of High Chief O.B. Lulu-Briggs in the aftermath of his death continues to persist, comments made by his second son, Dumo Lulu-Briggs, while on Rhythm 93.7 FM’s V-Point discourse on Saturday have been eliciting criticism from some analysts and close family friends.
In the course of his VewPoint interview, Dumo said so many things concerning his father and made some sensitive statements, while also giving the public the impression that his stepmother and his father’s widow, Dr Mrs Seinye O.B. Lulu-Briggs, is responsible for the delay of his father’s burial.
He went as far as revealing how his father went to Emekukwu in Owerri – his maternal home – to exhume his grandfather’s remains but ended up scooping only sand as the remains had decayed for long, and came to Abonnema to rebury it.
Dumo added that he would not like to go through that stress hence he does not want his late father, High Chief O.B. Lulu-Briggs, to be buried in Ghana where his corpse is presently at the Transition Home, Accra.
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But reacting to Dumo’s comments, a source who said he is very close to the Lulu-Briggs’ family and has been following the happenings since the High Chief died, said Dumo went too far in his comments on V-Point, arguing that he (Dumo) did not have any reason to liken his father’s case to that of his grandfather.
The source insisted that nothing would make the late High Chief O.B. Lulu-Briggs to be buried in Ghana as Dumo was trying to impute, expressing hope that one day the case would be resolved.
“Dumo himself is contributing to the delay of his father’s burial because the High Court has ordered the mortuary to release the corpse the moment Dumo meets the three conditions given to him. And one of those conditions is that he should carry his stepmother Seinye along and work with her to give his father-her husband – a befitting burial.
“I also heard that another condition the court gave him was that Seinye and/or her representatives must accompany the corpse which would be brought when the preparations are set. But I heard that Dumo wants to carry the corpse without fulfilling any of these conditions and that he wants to bring the corpse to Nigeria and deposit it in a mortuary here.
“So, as he has refused to comply with the court’s demand, that is why the corpse has not been released. Now, when you look at it, does it show that Dumo really wants to bury his father? What is difficult with the demands of the court?”
Another source accused Dumo of planning to conduct a second autopsy on the body of his father to prove that he was killed by his wife and use it to blackmail her.
The source said: “Dumo did not accept the result of the first autopsy that showed that his father died of natural causes because that result exonerated his stepmother. So, he wants a second autopsy that will claim that his father was murdered to justify his claim that his father’s wife killed him. He is the one delaying the burial.”
All efforts to hear from Dumo as at press time was not successful, although TPCN’s checks remain ongoing.
