The Chairman of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Bwari branch, Abuja, Mr. Clement Chukwuemeka and three others have dragged President Muhammadu Buhari to court for allegedly violating the COVID-19 protocols and regulations during the burial of his Chief of Staff, Abba Kyari.
Joined as co-defendants in the suit are the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, (SGF), Boss Mustapha, the Attorney-General of the Federation, Mr. Abubakar Malami, the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and the Ministry of Information.
The suit marked FHC/ABJ/462/2015 was filed before the Federal High Court in Abuja on April 30, by Chukwuemeka, two other lawyers, namely; Olalekan Oladapo and Raphael Ogbe and a civil society group, Wheel of Hope Human Rights Foundation.
The plaintiffs are alleging that the handling of the burial of the former CoS, who passed on April 17, from complications related to Covid-19, violated the COVID-19 Regulations issued by Buhari and the guidelines issued by the World Health Organisation and the NCDC.
Kyari’s burial at the Gudu Cemetery in Abuja had attracted mourners, including top government functionaries, in numbers more than stipulated by the COVID-19 guidelines even as the crowd also failed to observe social distancing measures.
The SSG, who is also the Chairman of the Presidential Task Force on COVID-19 was present at the burial.
READ ALSO: Lagos Lawyer Sues Buhari, NASS, Others Over Social Media Bill
The development drew condemnation from Nigerians who raised concerns about the possibility of an escalation of the spread of the deadly COVID-19.
The plaintiffs, in the suit alleged that Buhari, Mustapaha, and other defendants failed to ensure public safety during the burial.
They also alleged that the defendants failed to abide by the provisions of the law and guidelines in respect of COVID-19 lockdown, stressing that they endangered people in the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, by their action.
The plaintiffs also recalled how a Lagos-based actress, Funke Akindele, and her husband, Abdulrashid Bello were arrested, prosecuted, fined N100,000 each by the court and given 14 days’ community service for violating the stay-at-home and social distancing orders in Lagos.
They noted that over 1,000 persons had been arrested and tried in the FCT, for similar breaches, insisting that “Nigerians expect that having used certain persons as scapegoats, no one should be spared and no one is a sacred cow.”
Furthermore, the plaintiffs wondered why Kyari’s corpse was released to his family for burial, “contrary to the claim by the Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, at a forum organised by the News Agency of Nigeria on April 3.”
According to the plaintiffs, the minister had said that “bodies of COVID-19 victims cannot be claimed for burial/internment due to their contagious nature.’”
No date has been fixed for hearing of the suit.
