JUSTICE Christopher Balogun of an Ikeja High Court in Lagos on Monday gave an insight about why he gave an order that the corpse of Rear Admiral Ndubuisi Kanu (retd) should not be released to his family for burial. The deceased was a military administrator of Lagos and Imo states.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reported that Justice Balogun had on October 7 given an order that the Nigerian Navy should not release the body of the ex-Lagos military administrator until otherwise directed by the court.
The judge had given the order at the hearing of the suit filed by one of the wives of the deceased, Mrs Gladys Kanu, against the children of the deceased, the Nigerian Navy and her co-wife.
The plaintiff is seeking an order of the court to direct the respondents, their agents or privies, not to threaten her and to allow her properly prepare for the burial slated for Friday, October 15.
The respondents to the suit are: Kelly Kanu, the Nigerian Navy, Simone Abiona (nee Kanu), Audrey Joe-Ezigbo (nee Kanu), Paul Ndidiamaka Kanu and Karen Johnson (nee Kanu). Others are Jeffery Kanu, Laura Kanu, Stephen Kanu and Josephine Ndubuisi Kanu (wife).
The judge said that he gave the order to protect the corpse from being tampered with, which may be a result of the fallout from the Kanu family feud.
“It is for the protection of the body itself so that no one goes to tamper with that body which is to be buried this Saturday.
“There is not going to be any change of date of that burial, but we are protecting the body.
“That is the only order I gave so that there will be no intermeddlers and interlopers going to the Nigerian Navy and saying they were told to come and collect the body and we do not see the body of our dear ex-military administrator any longer.
“It is a Protective Order. I also said that if this controversy lingers and there is no proper cohesion among the lawyers to the parties, it will cause some confusion in Abia State on the date of the burial.”