New York [RR] ABA-NGWA–Movement for the Actualisation of the Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB) says markets and schools in Aba,  Abia State, will be closed on February 28 to enable residents of the commercial city to pay their last respect to the body of Eze Igbo Gburugburu, Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu, which will be brought to the city on that date as the late Igbo leader’s remains makes its last journey to its final resting place. 

[PHOTO: Gen. Ojukwu]

Disclosing this in a chat with Daily Sun, MASSOB Director of Information for Aba region, Sunny Okereafor said the closure of markets and schools in Aba on February 28 to enable residents of the city come out and pay their last respect to the fallen hero was not only a way of fulfilling one of Ojukwu’s wishes but showing the love and high esteem in which the people held him.

He said Ojukwu equally showed tremendous love and respect for residents in that there was no major action he took during his life time, that he never came to Aba to either intimate and or confide in them, stressing that nothing would be too much sacrifice by residents in honour of the departed hero.

According to him, “Aba was so dear to the heart of the late Ikemba that there was no major public decision he took in life he did not come to Aba either to confide in, or seek the opinion of the residents. First of all, we should not forget that it was in Aba Ojukwu started work as district officer (DO) when he came back from England before joining the Nigerian Army.

“Again in 1967, Ojukwu came to Aba to intimate and perhaps seek the opinion of residents of the city before declaring the war and to cap it all, when he returned from exile; he also came to Aba to inform them. The same thing also happened when he decided to go into partisan politics,” he recollected.

Okereafor therefore urged all residents of the commercial city to come out en masse on February 28 at the Enyimba Stadium where Ikemba’s body would lie in state. Meanwhile, the Abia State government has put to rest the rumour which made the rounds recently that the corpse would no longer be brought to Aba as originally planned.

A statement by the Chief Press Secretary to Governor T. A. Orji, Ugochukwu Emezue, hinted that Enyimba Stadium where Ojukwu would lie in state on February 28 was wearing a new look just as he assured that security had also been put in place for the Aba event.

Culled to RepublicReporters by Okey Sampson

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