A Non-Governmental Organisation, Women for Justice Initiative (WJI) has appealed that Mrs. Seinye O.B. Lulu Briggs should be allowed to play prominent roles in the burial activities of her late husband.
In a statement in Lagos, the group said Mrs. Seinye O.B. Lulu should not be sidelined in the burial activities of her late husband.
A statement by the group said: “It is unfair and unjust for anyone to deny his widow her right to be involved in the burial of her husband.
“Involvement in the burial of her late husband is her right and she should be so allowed to exercise it without any conditions whatsoever. After all it was allegedly stated in his will, that his widow should be actively involved in the activities pertaining to his burial.
“We call on the family, the Abonnema Chiefs and the entire Abonnema community to do the right thing by getting Mrs. Seinye O.B. Lulu Briggs involved in all activities planned for the burial of his father.”
Spokesperson for the group, Chinwe Uwalaka, said: “Denying Mrs. O.B. Lulu Briggs a prominent role in the burial activities should be condemned by all.”
Such action, she stated, “is not only unfair, it is a great injustice not only to this woman but to all women in her shoes.”
According to her: “Any way you look at it, it’s clear that this is a case of muzzling a helpless widow.
‘’More so her late appreciative husband who apparently had foreseen this sort of thing happening to his dear wife, had clearly stated in his will that she should be involved in his burial rites and its only right that this should be respected by the family.
“It is psychologically and emotionally draining for a woman like Seinye who gave her husband the best of attention and care while he was alive, to be denied an important role in his burial.”
The group noted: “Notwithstanding any disagreement within the family, a woman who stood by her husband and demonstrated unflinching loyalty to him while he was alive should not be allowed to go through the trauma of being sidelined as it is being done to her at a time like this.”
