Over 2 years after the demise of High Chief Olu Benson Lulu-Briggs, the family Oruwari Briggs House of Abonnema in Akuku-Toru local government area of Rivers State has finally released a date for the late business moguls burial.
But for controversies and litigations that trailed his demise, including legal tussles in Nigerian and Ghanaian Courts over where the deceased truly died and taking possession of his mortal remains, the oil and gas industry player would have long been buried.
Barrister Ibim Dokubo, addressing a press conference at Abonnema on behalf of the Oruwari Briggs House, said:
“It is our pleasure at this point to break the news that the late High Chief Olu Benson Lulu-Briggs, OON, DCF, DSSRS, the Iniikeiroari V of Kalabari Kingdom and Paramount Head of Oruwari Briggs House of Abonnema will be committed to mother Earth on Saturday, March 13, 2021.
“The major reason we could not plan the burial ceremony was because for more than fifteen months we could not take custody of the mortal remains of High Chief O.B. Lulu- Briggs because of the series of Court cases that denied the family from taking custody of the body. The controversy surrounded the demise of our Paramount Head was widely reported in the media.
“Even when on December 23, 2019, a High Court in Ghana ruled that the body of the monarch be released to the family led by Chief Dumo Lulu-Briggs, the matter was appealed up to the Supreme Court before the body was finally brought on March 16, 2020 into the waiting arms of the prevailing Covid restrictions.
“The overwhelming view was we needed to wait for the relaxation of the Covid-19 restrictions because High Chief O.B. Lulu-Briggs was a man of many parts, who had positively touched many lives.
“He was a public servant, a labour leader, a politician, a businessman, a philanthropist par excellence and a very High Chief. It would therefore be a gross disservice to his memory to deny his legion of friends and associates the opportunity to honour him at his funeral.”
