Date: 2017-11-09

The whole tale of the exhumation and reburial of the corpse of worker of Kwara State College of Education, Oro, Ahmad Adekunle Abdulsalam, who was struck dead by lightening recently, from New Cemetery, Oke-Ose to the Muslim Cemetery, Osere, Ilorin is fraught with intrigues and incomplete without Imam Abubakar Aliagan side of the story. In this exclusive interview with MUMINI ABDULKAREEM in his Ilorin residence, the lecturer of Department of Religion, University of Ilorin, opens up on the untold story of the much talked about incident which has been widely discussed in high quarters in the state. Excerpts:

What is the story about the whole saga?

Immediately the incident happened, I received several calls from Muslims in Oro about the incident, who expressed frustration that up till when I was called, the dead body was still lying on the field. The incident happened around nine o clock in the morning and the ritualists came around 5pm, which is about 9 hours. The body was abandoned by the principal actors in the College of Education Oro, primarily the provost of the college and other members. Why do you say that sir? You see, instead of giving him first aid treatment, he was neglected because of the fear that whoever touched him might be affected as propounded by the ritualists. When we met the provost at the instance of the Commissioner of Tertiary Education, I made this allegation strongly against the provost because if in an educational environment that suppose to know that thunder strike or lightening is a natural phenomenon and has nothing to do with any religion or fetish belief as some would propound, it was very unfortunate. The chairman of the school governing council, a professor, who is also a Christian said he shared my opinion that when the provost called him, he told him that what the man needed as at then was a first aid treatment which the school medical clinic should have provided. He said he told the chairman when the clinic people said they were also afraid to touch him, to take him to the General Hospital, Oro. These people just wasted the life of this man due to neglect.

What then happened?

Later, the Deputy Provost who happened to be a friend from Ilorin and a Muslim called and pleaded with me that they were bringing the corpse of the deceased to the Muslim cemetery in Ilorin and this is where my active participation in the matter began as the coordinator of the facility. The permission he wanted was to allow the body to be buried at night which we don’t tolerate because of security reasons and other people that may have ulterior motive unless with my special permission. My belief was that he was rejected by the Oro people to be buried in their town because of the superstition attributed to issue of lightening. So I gave permission for the burial anytime they arrive and that I would even love to be there myself. But we waited till 9pm that day and I thought they might have decided otherwise. But later around 10pm, our vigilantes and night watchmen called me that his body had been brought but it was generating argument that some are saying he should be buried without performing any funeral prayer on him. On the phone, I gave instruction to our workers not to bury him since the issue has become argumentative unless he's given proper Islamic rites.

But did you find out from Oro why he was brought to Ilorin?

Towards midnight, the Deputy Provost and the Chairman of Oro Muslim Community narrated to me what happened. They said when he was about to be buried, the ritualists initially said they would take the corpse away to their own place but they insisted he must be brought to Ilorin which was later agreed. But the ritualists insisted they must not perform anything on him again. The family members headed by the deceased’s sister who happened to be a Christian now also insisted that no funeral rites/prayer according to Islamic injunction should be performed. That was how they left that night to bury him somewhere. But after I was properly briefed in the morning that he was taken away and not properly buried according to Islamic rites, I became curious. I said if they have not buried him, let us search for the corpse and take it over as our Muslim brother. We later discovered that he was buried in the new cemetery in the dead of the night. I said we must reclaim his body and do the needful as instructed by Islam wherever it might be.

Did you find out whether the deceased was part of the ritualists because there is this issue of whether he was a practising Muslim in the first place?

A member of the family who happened to marry a sister to the deceased stood with us in all of these. There was this argument that the deceased was given a kind of black power which rain must not touch and his death was the consequence of flouting that directive. But family member and the Deputy Provost testified to the fact that he was a practising Muslim. Armed with this fact, we believed it was a slap on the entire Muslim community for Christians and ritualists to dictate for the Muslims what and how to do with our dead Muslim brother. A funeral rite in Islam is not attached to the family. In naming and marriage ceremonies, we are ordered to conduct it on the conveniences of the parents and bride's families with their approval according to Islam. But when it comes to death, Islam makes it incumbent on the Muslims community to carry out the funeral rite and the family has no right to question that. This is no longer a family affair and that was why today (Tuesday) at the Muslim cemetery, we were less bothered whether his family members were there or not.

Did you report to security agencies and relevant authorities before embarking on your intervention?

When the incident happened, we formally reported to the Commissioner of Tertiary Institution and demanded a meeting with the Provost of the College of Education, Oro, since he was the one who gave instruction for the ritualists to perform the nonsense on the corpse and also released the van that brought it to Ilorin and it was his staff that performed the hurried first burial at the new cemetery. We believe if the commissioner could pressurise the provost, we will get to where he was buried and exhume him. At the meeting, we let them know what Islam says on the matter and that the deceased, wherever he is, will not be pleased with the entire Muslim community if he was left that way. We agreed that the College will fund the entire process, from the UITH pathologists and others because we were told by the doctors that we needed a police report, a judge certification for the exhumation, and specialist to prevent spread of disease.

What was the role of the family in the process of the exhumation?

On the day that was chosen for the exhumation, a member of the family who initially said he knows the location of the grave was nowhere to be found and he refused to pick several calls we made to his mobile phone number. The driver of the College of Education Oro and another staff who all participated in the first burial also disappeared, whether they were instructed or not for the fear that anybody that shows the location or even attempt to exhume the body will die according to the ritualists warning, we don’t know. But I said that is even a good way to die. The challenge for us then was that after we agreed on a date for the exhumation, we had informed our Muslims brothers to gather at the Muslim cemetery for the reburial around 7 o clock in the morning because we envisaged the body would have decomposed and oozing with stench, so there would be need to quickly bury him. But with the new development, we told them of our disappointment by those concerned. So we performed Solatul Ghayb (prayer for the deceased who died in another place). But they were not happy and they mandated us (Alhaji AbdulHameed Olohunoyin and I) that this should not be the end to the matter because of the trust they have in us.

How did you now find out the particular grave and exhumed it for reburial?

Firstly, we knew he was buried at the new cemetery and there are about 20 graveyards there, but we don’t know the particular one and we don't want a situation whereby we would just be exhuming dead bodies which may lead to legal action by the affected families who have every right to take such action. But they refused to show us the particular grave. So I still went back to the commissioner to relay what the Muslims felt about the issue and she promised that they will assist. But since we had police permission and only need to locate the particular grave, we went on our own. The Christians bury the dead with inscription and crosses to distinguish it. Based on trial and error, we attempted the one we suspected based on our Knowledge of Christian cemetery was the grave and that was it. So I will say Allah (SWT) directed us to where he was buried and to confirm him, there was no casket or wooden structure, he was just dumped in the grave with the cloth laced with pig blood by the ritualists. The Deputy Provost of the college who knew him was also there to identify his body. For 47 days, his body didn’t decompose. It was as if the body was waiting for us to come and remove it because that was not his abode. It's something that was beyond our comprehension. We found the grave on Monday and called the expert for the exhumation on Tuesday to quickly bury him to avoid any health issue or hazard because of what we thought earlier. But when we found it this way, that was why we shifted the event to 10am from 7am, especially due to the controversy that surrounded his death. So we mobilised the Muslim to come and see and be our witnesses. So this is triumph of Islam over the ritualists.

Did you find the body mutilated as a result of the action of the ritualist?

No, nothing was removed. The corpse was intact when it was brought by the team led by the permanent secretary, Ministry of Tertiary Institution. The only thing we did was to pour water on him all over to give him the canonical bath, touching him might lead to breakage of his body, the action is allowed in Islam. I was part of those who lifted him to the grave and nothing was removed from his body. It is just wonders of Almighty Allah (SWT).

Did the ritualists contact you on this issue as the leader of the team that championed the reburial?

No, what explanation will I give them? When you fear Allah, He will make everybody to fear you. The family members also did not call and we were not even expecting their call anyway because they had agreed that he should be buried according to the dictates of the ritualists.

Do you foresee a situation where the body might be re-exhumed?

We exhumed the body quite alright, but any attempt to exhume him from the Muslim cemetery is going to be very costly because the body has reached its rightful destination and will be here till the Day of Judgment.

Do you think this incident portend any miracle?

Not at all and we should not mystify the whole thing, there is nothing miraculous about it. We just did what is expected of us and his body is not the first that will appear as such. Some were still intact as they were buried for years. If there is anything miraculous about it, to Allah (SWT) be the glory for preserving the body and directing us to do what we have done.

What was the role of the Chief Imam of Oro in all of these?

Nothing.

Will what transpired between the ritualists and the corpse in the first instance have any spiritual negative implication on it?

No, because all they did was after he was dead and he will be judged by his actions before he died. It is just that since the body has been seen, we must do the needful according to Islamic rites. If we don't do it, Allah will judge the deceased on what happened while he was alive. What about those that were eaten up by animals or even get drowned. It is we that are going to account for the way we molested his body. So the pig and dog blood rituals and all other propitiation performed on him will not have any effect on him in Allah's sight.

What is the message to Muslims in all of these?

It is quite unfortunate that the Iman (faith) of the Muslims that surrounded the deceased was very weak. Only one person was saying we should not allow the ritualists, all others were saying they don’t want calamity to befall the environment and we should leave the ritualists to do what they want to do. If the Muslims then had picked him up and stood by him, the story would have been different. The Muslims should have strong faith in Allah and not be Muslim by name only but seek Islamic knowledge and be ready to practice it. If something like this reoccur, there should not be the issue of contacting any ritualist and funny enough I learnt they claimed about half a million naira to perform their rituals to buy pig and other items.