Saraki’s body not buried in casket – Cleric

Fidau prayer was on Sunday held for the late former Senate Leader, Olusola Saraki, at Metropolitan Square, Ilorin, Kwara State, with Vice President Namadi Sambo, former President Olusegun Obasanjo, among other dignitaries, in attendance.
During the event, an Islamic cleric, Sulyman Onikijipa, debunked the rumour that the body of the late politician was buried with the casket in which it was brought from Lagos.
Onikipa, who said he participated in bathing the body in Lagos, according to Islamic rite, disclosed that after the bath, they immediately brought the corpse to Ilorin for burial.
He explained that owing to the large crowd and not to endager people’s lives they decided that the Janazah prayer should be conducted without bringing down the corpse from the ambulance at Eid Praying Gorund.
Onikijpa further explained that when they took the body to the deceased residence, where it was buried, they removed it from the casket before interment.
Meanwhile, first son of the deceased and former governor of the state, Bukola Saraki, reiterated that his late father regarded the masses as his Very Important Personalities (VIP), assuring that the family would continue to regard them as such.
The younger Saraki, while giving vote of thanks, said his late father lived a fulfilled life, stressing that the family is proud to have him as their father.
He said they thanked God for the life the elder Saraki lived and his legacies, assuring that they would continue from where he stopped.
The former governor, now a serving Senator, on behalf of his siblings, thanked their mother, Morenike, whom he said, their father asked them to always appreciate for consistently standing by him.
He thanked the Muslim clerics for their prayers and support for his father while alive and urged them to extend same to the family.
In his sermon, an Islamic cleric, Sheu Dan Borno, urged the family to emulate their late father on his philanthropic activities, saying that was what made him excel as a leader.
He advised the family to be united so that they do not give room for the destruction of the their father’s legacies.
The other children of the deceased, who along side their mother and extended family, were at the programme are Gbemisola, a former senator, Laolu and Tope Edu.
Other dignitaries at the Fidau prayer, include Governors Abdulfatah Ahmed, Idris Wada, Babangida Aliyu, Adams Oshiomhole, Gabriel Suswam, and Saidu Dakingari of Kwara, Kogi, Niger, Edo, Benue, and Kebbi,  respectively.
They also include Minister of Sports, Bolaji Abdullahi, Negerian envoy to Netherlands, Nimota Akanbi, Former Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Alfa Belgore; Former Minister of Justice, Bayo Ojo; former Inspector General of Police, Sunday Adewusi, and former governor of Kwara State, Mohammed Shaaba Lafiagi.