Oil magnate, High Chief Olu Benson Lulu-Briggs, will now be laid to rest in March, two years after his death, the family confirmed on Friday in Port Harcourt.
He will be buried on March 13, at Abonnema in Asari Toru Local Government Area of Rivers State, spokesman for the chiefs of the Oluwari Briggs House, Sir Ibim Dokubo told reporters.
Chief Lulu –Briggs died on December 27,2018 in Ghana aged 88, but disagreement within his family had frustrated previous arrangements to bury him.
He said that the burial was delayed because the family could not take custody of his body as a result of a series of litigations concerning his death. He also said the Covid-19 pandemic contributed to the delay.
“The overwhelming view was that 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 so many lives,” Dokubo said.
“He was a public servant, a labour leaders, a politician, a businessman and a philanthropist. It will, therefore, be a disservice to his memory to deny his legion of friends and associates the opportunity to honour him at his funeral.
“His obsequies should be designed to enable various personalities who interacted with him in his life time to participate actively.”
Son of the deceased, Barrister Dumo Lulu-Briggs, also said that he was happy that his father would be finally laid to rest in March.
He hailed Governor Nyesom Wike for approving a state burial for his father.