COVID-19: Abia traditional ruler, Local Govt officials collect money for burial approvals-Eke

The COVID-19 Pandemic may have provided an avenue fro some traditional rulers and Local Council Chairmen in Abia State to make more revenue from burials in the state.

The  state government came out with a directive which requires families of deceased persons to obtain approval from traditional rulers, Local Governments and the Secretary to the State Government before the dead are buried, as a way of checkmating the spread of coronavirus.

However, a traditional ruler and some Local Government officials in the state have been accused of collecting money from a bereaved family before giving approval for the burial of their late mother.

A man who gave his name simply as Eke, alleged that some traditional rulers and Local Government officials are abusing the privilege by collecting money ranging from N1,000 to N5,000 before such approvals are given.

Eke, who is from one of the communities in Abia North, narrated how he went to his community to collect an attestation form from his traditional ruler and was asked to pay N1,000.

He alleged that after paying the money to his traditional ruler for the burial form, he then went to the Local Government headquarters to get approval for the burial of his late mother, scheduled for next month, but to his surprise, he was forced to tip some council officials with N5,000 to obtain the approval.

‘’When my traditional ruler asked for N1, 000 for him to give me the form, I thought he was joking, but when he persisted, I gave it to him. At the Local Government headquarters, at every table, they demanded money and at the end, I spent not less than N5,000 there for me to get the approval,’’ he said.

Eke advised the State Committee on COVID-19 to provide traditional rulers with the required forms in order to stop them from collecting money from their subjects who want to bury their dead.

One of the local governments in the state, Isuikwuato, had alerted people of the area about some people it said are  fraudsters, who according to the local government, went about collecting money from unsuspecting bereaved families in the guise of giving them approvals for burials.

The State Commissioner for Chieftaincy and Local Government Affairs, Chief Gabriel Onyendilefu, however, denied knowledge of the development, insisting that his Ministry has no control over those handling of COVID-19 related issues, including the native rulers and Local Government officials.

The Chairman of the State COVID-19 Committee and Secretary to the State Government, Chief Chris Ezem, could not be reached for his comments on the matter..