The family agreed that
he should be buried at Atan cemetery, located along University Road in Yaba,
Lagos and amidst wailing, crying and lamenting, punctured by intermittent
singing of church songs and dancing; the corpse of the departed was eventually
lowered into mother earth.
While the carnival like
show lasted from Festac Town all the way to the cemetery, the pall bearers from
Ebony Casket in Lagos Island did a fantastic job of mesmerizing people with
their electric-like dance steps.
Others were not left out
as the joined those carrying the coffin to dance their hearts out. But, after
burial of the departed, sympathizers moved out of the abode of the dead and
returned to the land of the living.
Atan is one of the many
cemeteries in Lagos, the acclaimed commercial nerve center of Nigeria, with an
estimated population of 18 people, spread across 20 recognized local government
areas and 37 created local council development authorities.
All over the world,
cemeteries are planned and structured to be the final, befitting resting places
for those that have passed through transition.
Therefore, governments
ensure that the immediate surroundings of cemeteries have high aesthetic
values, with flowers and trees planted to give it a peaceful, heavenly outlook
for both the living and the death.
But, the reality is that
thick bushes, trees, beggars, grave diggers, rodents, suspected
ritualists, dry bones, etc, have taken over the once popular Atan
cemetery and those who have died and were buried there may simply not be
resting in peace, but in pieces.
Inside sources revealed
that it is also the same at Ikoyi, Ajegunle, Mushin, Agege, Epe and Badagry,
among other cemeteries in the center of excellence.
However, surveillance in
the last two weeks showed that sympathizers, who accompanied their departed
friends, relations, parents, etc, to the cemetery could be greeted at the entry
points and exist points either beggars or people praying for the
departed.
This was observed during
the burial of Omoraro, where beggars and prayer warriors gathered while the
coffin carrying his remains arrive the cemetery.
While the beggars were
directly begging for money, the prayer people were busy pleading with God to
forgive the sins of the departed and admit him to his kingdom.
The bottom-line of the
prayers is to indirectly solicitude for arms from those who have come to bury
the dead. “They make lots of money on some days, especially weekends when more
coffins could arrive the cemetery for burial”, Biodun, a grave digger at Atan
boasted.
Nine years ago, reports quoted Hakeem
Yunusa as saying that he gave his late mother a befitting burial as a worthy
son at the cemetery, but later discovered on visiting the place years after
that “another person has been buried on the same ground my mum was buried, even
as the warders kept mute on the issue when I raised it”.
The report also
disclosed that one Alhaji Muniru Ashabi claimed that at Agege cemetery, the
corpse of his brother was exhumed from its resting place.
His words: “When I
discovered that the body of my late brother has been exhumed, I made all
efforts to know what went wrong, but I discovered that they may have sold the
same portion of land to another person”.
Authorities of
some local government areas in Lagos seem not to be walking the talk as far as
maintenance of cemeteries in the state is concerned.
A visit to Agege, Ikoyi
and Mushin cemeteries showed dirty, unkempt surroundings, with over grown
grasses and tress. A warder said that suspected ritualists do visit some
cemeteries, especially at night in search of human body parts.
Mail sent to
jijetgroup@yahoo.com,
the official email address of Jimoh Raheem, Chairman, Yaba Local Government
area was returned as undelivered.
Efforts made to reach
him on his cell phone for official comment on the level of maintenance being
carried out by the LGA at Atan cemetery proved abortive.
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