TheNewsGuru

Tag: State Burial

  • Edo govt accepts #EndSARS protesters demand to organise state burial for man killed during protest

    Edo govt accepts #EndSARS protesters demand to organise state burial for man killed during protest

    Edo State Government on Friday granted request for a state burial for the victim of #EndSARS protest who was allegedly shot dead by hoodlums who hijacked the protest in Benin.

    The State Deputy Governor, Philip Shaibu granted the request when hundreds of the protesters matched to the state’s government house with the corpse of the victim.

    Spokesman for the protesters, David Osayande, had requested that a state burial should be given to the victim who was earlier identified simply as Ikpomwosa.

    “One of us has been killed during this struggle. Sir, we want state burial for that man, we want an end to police brutality, we want the police to stop arresting us without any offence,” Osayande said.

    Responding, the deputy governor disclosed that the state government has given security agencies a 24-hour ultimatum to fish out killers of the victim.

    Shaibu, who walked with the protesters from the government house to the city centre, said the state government supported the protest and did not want either SARS or SWAT in the state.

    According to him, “The police, Department of State Security and others are to bring to book those guys that shot at you, stoned you and the guys that killed that young man to book.

    “Some of you sustained injuries, I can see them from here, they have 24 hours to bring them to book.

    “I have ordered that the victim should be taken to the morgue. We are going to give him a state burial, like the young guy said, because the martyrs of this struggle must be remembered.

    “He will be remembered for being part of this struggle, he is a martyr and by the grace of God he will never be forgotten.

    “When all this reform has taken place, it will be on record that he joined the struggle for emancipation. I want to assure that Edo state government believes in your peaceful protest.

    “No properties was destroyed, nobody was injured, that is what is called peaceful protest and you have been doing that.

    “Those miscreants that want to create problem, I can assure you that we will not fold out hands as a state, to watch them brutalize anyone, that I want to assure you, so, please maintain your peaceful protest.”

  • Ghana confirms date for Kofi Annan’s state burial

    Ghanaian President Nana Akufo-Addo has said the country will hold a state burial for the former United Nations secretary general Kofi Annan.

    The president said the state burial for the departed former secretary general will hold on September 13, describing it “a major event for our country”.

    Akufo-Addo said this on Friday following a meeting with Annan’s family in Accra.

    Annan, a Ghanaian national and Nobel peace laureate, died on Saturday at the age of 80 after a short illness.

    “Kofi Annan was one of the most illustrious people of this generation. He was like an elderly brother,” Akufo-Addo said.

    “It’s going to be a major event for our country… I expect many leaders to be present,” he said, adding that he would be buried in Accra’s new military cemetery.

    Born in Kumasi, the capital city of Ghana’s Ashanti region, Annan devoted four decades of his working life to the UN and was the first chief from sub-Saharan Africa.

    Following his death in Switzerland, where he lived not far from the UN European headquarters in Geneva, Akufo-Addo announced a week of mourning for “one of our greatest compatriots”.

  • Adeleke: We planned state burial but hoodlums hijacked it – Osun Govt

    …sets up panel of inenquiry to unravel mystery behind his death

    The Osun State Government on Sunday condemned in strong terms the violence that played out during the burial of Senator Isiaka Adeleke saying it had plans to conduct a befitting state burial for him as the first democratically elected governor of the state.

    TheNewsGuru.com reports that Adeleke died on Sunday and was buried on Monday according to Islamic rites.

    In a statement issued in Osogbo, the government said it will set up a panel of inquiry to ascertain the cause of the late Senator’s death and to also prosecute those who deliberately deprived him of a peaceful burial.

     

    The Statement reads in part: “The State Government of Osun had intended to give him a befitting state burial which he rightly deserved and which the state had prepared to undertake.

    “Regrettably however, the enemies of the state, through brigandage, violence and evil machinations, created an atmosphere of fear and terror in the minds of our citizenry and friends throughout the federation.

    “Immediately the news of his demise filtered in, a band of vagabonds, crying more than the bereaved, took to the streets, looting and wreaking havoc. Journalists were roughened and their equipment damaged. Important dignitaries that came for the burial were equally molested by these thugs.

    “Senator Adeleke was a man of peace. He preached peace and lived it through his life. He left the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) because he could not stand violence. This was after he was beaten up by some leaders of the PDP during a meeting in a hotel in Osogbo.

    “It is a profound irony and most unfortunate therefore that a few disgruntled elements purporting to protest his death desecrated his funeral with violence and attacks on innocent persons.

    “They dishonoured him and did his memory a great disservice by keeping his friends, political associates and well-wishers away from his burial. The best we could do in the circumstance was to declare three days of mourning throughout the state and fly national, state and our party’s flags at half-mast in his honour.

    “In the light of this, the State Government of Osun, using the instrumentality of the law, is setting up an inquest to unravel the circumstances of this unfortunate and sad incident, in order to put the record straight on his death.

    “We continue to mourn the untimely death of Senator Isiaka Adetunji Adeleke. He is irreplaceable in our hearts. We commiserate with his family, the good people of Ede, associates, friends, constituents and generality of our people on the passage of this patriot.

    “As we pray for the repose of his soul we equally pray for the strength to bear this heavy loss”.

    TheNewsGuru.com reports that the state Governor, Engr. Rauf Aregbesola in his tribute to the departed Senator, acknowledged the magnanimous role he (Adeleke) played in his re-election in 2014.