Leader of the Movement for the Actualization of Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB), Chief Ralph Uwazuruike, has requested that his body be cremated when he dies.
According to a statement issued by his media assistant, Chris Mocha, the MASSOB leader made the request during an enlarged meeting of MASSOB held at Ojukwu Memorial Library, Owerri, the Imo State capital.
Uwazuruike in the statement warned his followers not to bury him in the ground whenever he dies.
The release quoted Uwazuruike as saying that the ashes from his body should be sprayed into the flowing rivers in Igboland, pleading with them to, among other things, ensure that after his death, that the necessary funeral rites according to Igbo customs and tradition are performed for him.
“If I die today get planks and tyres and make blazing flames and burn my corpse to ashes, then gather these ashes in different parts. Make sure that you dump them inside the flowing River Niger in Onitsha, Imo River in Owerrinta, Ezu River in Amansea, Orashi and Ogbuide in Oguta, Omambala River in Otuocha and every other flowing streams in Biafraland.
“When you throw my burnt ashes into the flowing rivers, allow the streams to carry them away.
“Apart from these, every other burial rites due for an illustrious son must be performed for me. It is not as if I’m dying now, but in case, death is a necessary end that comes when it will come,” Uwazuruike requested.
Uwazuruike stated that his decision was in line with the lifestyle Mahatma Ghandhi, who he said was one of his heroes after Dim Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu.
