A human rights organisation, Kingdom Human Rights Foundation, has threatened a “public interest litigation” if people who attended Abba Kyari’s funeral are not quarantined on account of crowding and poor social distancing.
The NGO also said it will institute a public interest litigation if the Kyari family fail to identify and quarantine those who attended the burial.
In a statement by the Executive Director, Kingdom Okere, on Saturday, the NGO said the large turnout for the burial in Abuja violated social distancing and other guidelines set out by the federal government to contain the spread of the novel Coronavirus disease.
Abba Kyari died on Friday, aged 67, after battling the disease in a Lagos hospital. His body was flown to Abuja for burial, according to Islamic rites.
The NGO said the burial, which was attended by many high-profile individuals, should not be used “as a yardstick to endanger the lives of other estimated 200 million Nigerians.”
While requesting the support of the NCDC and the presidential taskforce, the NGO condemned the statement by an aide to the president who was reported to have stated that the late Kyari must not be buried like other Covid-19 casualties.
“We hold the view that all persons are equal even at death. If the Minister of Information few days ago told the nation that Covid-19 casualties cannot be released for burial, what then is special about the late Abba Kyari? With this development, families of other Covid-19 demise persons now will activate demand to have the corpses of their loved ones released for burial,” the statement read.
“We also condemn the viral social media video of one of late Kyari’s undertakers who removed his Covid-19 protection apron and abandoned it in the public without taking appropriate step to properly dispose it,” it added.
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