Ohanaeze Ndigbo has chided the Federal Government on the burial of Abba Kyari, saying the burial of the late Chief of Staff to President Muhammadu Buhari exposed the rot and inequality in the Nigerian system.
President of Ohanaeze Ndigbo, Anambra State, Ichie Damian Okeke Ogene, who stated this in an interview with journalists recently, noted that the Federal Government was insensitive in flying in the body of Abba Kyari, to Abuja, where it was buried in shallow grave at the heart of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) where it could pose health hazard to Nigerians resident in the area.
Ogene emphasised that what the Federal Government did in flying the former CoS to Abuja, against an earlier announcement that anybody who that died of Coronavirus would not be released for burial, pointed to the fact that certain laws in Nigeria were exclusively meant for the common people.
“Nigeria’s Minister of Information, Lai Mohammed, had said that anybody who died of the Coronavirus would not be released for burial.
“As at when the FG took that decision, maybe, they felt only common people would be killed by the virus.
READ ALSO: COVID-19: Ohanaeze Youth Urges South-East Govs To Close Down Churches, Schools, Others
“Some Nigerians died from the disease, whose bodies were not released for burial. It was taken that the aim was to contain the spread of the virus.
“Nigerians were, therefore, shocked when the body of the late Chief of Staff to Buhari was flown from Lagos to Abuja, and was allegedly buried in a shallow grave.
“Prominent Nigerians were captured clustering the graveside in their hundreds, against the social distancing directive of the Federal Government.
“Though, the concerned agency later apologised on behalf of the FG, yet, the development succeeded in exposing the level of inequality and bad leadership example in the country.
“Cases of COVID-19 had continued to rise geometrically at the FCT, yet, those that organised the burial did not consider the danger it might create to Nigerians, especially those resident in Abuja.”
The Ohanaeze boss also condemned the alleged exclusion of the South-East in the distribution of palliatives to pacify for the Coronavirus lockdown.
He said it would have made more sense if the FG had extended the largesse to Nigerians living in the South-East if actually the country was operating an egalitarian system.