Amaechi, Wike, four governors bid farewell to late Rivers attorney-general

The remains of the late attorney-general of Rivers State, Emmanuel Aguma, were on Saturday laid to rest at his family home at Orogbum, Port Harcourt.

Mr Aguma, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), died in August in a hospital in London.

The Rivers Governor, Nyesom Wike, leading his cabinet members and other top government officials, attended the funeral ceremony held at the Saint Paul’s Anglican Cathedral, Port Harcourt, according to a statement issued by Mr Wike’s media aide, Simeon Nwakaudu.

The Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi, was at the burial ceremony.

Also present at the ceremony were the governors of Ebonyi State, Dave Umahi; Sokoto, Aminu Tambuwal; Gombe, Ibrahim Dankwambo; and Akwa Ibom, Udom Emmanuel.

The Archbishop of Anglican Province of Niger Delta, Tunde Adeleye, in his sermon at the funeral, urged Nigerians to “work towards living according to the desires of God in order to inherit eternal life”.

Mr Adeleye prayed God to comfort the family of late Aguma and the leaders of Rivers State.

Governor Wike in his funeral oration praised the late attorney-general as being responsible for “massive” infrastructural development in the state judiciary and the bar.

“The late attorney-general of Rivers was strong-willed and was loyal to the core. He was a man with character.

“His death is very painful. His service to the state will never be in vain. Having made sacrifices, the state will continue to honour him,” the governor said.

He thanked the Aguma family for giving out the late Aguma to the state for service and announced that the state government would re-name the Judges Quarters in Port Harcourt after the late attorney-general when the facility is completed.

He also said the wife to the late attorney-general would be “drafted into” the state executive council in order to cement the relationship between the government and the Oguma family.

The corpse of the late attorney-general was taken to the hall of Orogbum Community, Rebisi, Port Harcourt City Local Government Area, earlier on Saturday, where the community leaders paid tribute to him and repeatedly fired traditional canons.

The President-General, Orogbum Community Council, Theophilus Akugbo, said the late Aguma was a peacemaker who brokered peace within Ogbum-Nu-Abali community over a disputed land issue that threatened the peace of the area.

Former governors of Rivers State, Peter Odili, and Celestine Omehia, as well as the former president of the Nigerian Senate, Iyorchia Ayu, former governor of Imo State, Achike Udenwa, and a senator from Rivers State, Magnus Abe, were also at the funeral ceremony.