The family of the Late King of Akpor Kingdom, in Obio/Akpor Local Government Area of Rivers State, His Royal Majesty, King Anele Orlu Oriebe, who allegedly died of Covid-19 has urged the state government to release his bones for proper burial in his kingdom.
The traditional ruler who died on the 15th of June 2020 at the military hospital was buried at the Port Harcourt cemetery 5 days after without the necessary traditional rites.
The Nigerian Center for Disease Control guidelines stipulates that persons who died of the coronavirus pandemic would not be handed over to their families for burial.
The traditional ruler, under normal circumstances, would be buried with full traditional rites as enshrined in the culture of the kingdom.
However, the decision of the government to bury him without the necessary traditional rites angered his subjects who claimed the governor took the approach because he and the late traditional ruler were not in good moods.
The sources alleged that governor Nyesom Wike personally led the operation with personnel of the Department of State Security, DSS, to evacuate his corpse from Military Hospital, Port Harcourt to the cemetery for burial.
The sources claimed that the Traditional beads which the Nye-Wey Ali would have transferred to his successor were not removed from the late King as he was buried together with it.
But the family regretted that their father was buried by the government at the cemetery without their consent, adding that the king did not die of Covid-19 as claimed by the state government, rather as a result of accident complications, the Vanguard reports.
Elder Kingsley Kinika Orlu, head of the family and immediate elder brother to the late king, condemned the state government for burying the Akpor king in a shameful manner.
Kingsley stated that it was a taboo in Ikwerre land for a king to be buried outside his kingdom, calling on well-meaning individuals to prevail on the government to allow them to excavate the grave of the king and pick some bones to conduct traditional burial rites.
“We the immediate family of the king condemn the burial of our king of the government. This has not happened before in Ikwerre land.
“It is a taboo in Akpor that he is buried outside the community. It is taboo. We call on well-meaning Nigerians to help us to plead with the government. They should give us even if it is his bone so he can come back to his kingdom.
Kingsley claimed that the king did not die of Covid-19, stating that the act was an injustice against the Akpor kingdom.
“The king did not die of Covid-19. His death is as a result of an accident he had in 2017. He went to the hospital that day on his own on Saturday but died on Monday.
“There was no test carried out to prove that he had Covid-19. It was when he died that we saw three men who came to the mortuary to take his sample. We did not see the test result. “The unjust treatment of our monarch is unbelievable. Even if it is his bone they should give us for burial. It is no longer speculation that he has been buried.”
He further regretted that Covid-19 team has not visited the family for contact tracing or testing, adding that contamination of the compound has not been carried out.
