…Inaugurates Conciliation Committee
…Says Parties Have Given Consent
Worried over the lingering crisis rocking the family of late oil magnate and philanthropist, Chief O. B. Lulu-Briggs, which has stalled his burial for nearly two years, the Amanyanabo of Abonnema, His Majesty, King (Barr.) Disrael Gbobo Bob-Manuel (ii), Owukori (IX), has inaugurated a Conciliation Committee to liaise with the aggrieved factions in the family in order to give the late Paramount Head of Young Briggs House a befitting burial.
The Committee which comprises notable chiefs and individuals drawn from the three principal Kalabari towns of Abonnema, Bakana and Buguma also includes the three chairmen of Akuku-Toru, Asari-Toru and Degema Local Government Areas.
Inaugurating the Conciliation Committee Monday in Abonnema, the Amanyanabo maintained that the committee was not a burial committee but an interface body that would liaise with the widow of the late chief, Dr Mrs Seinye Lulu-Briggs, her step son, and head of the Lulu-Briggs House, Chief Dumo Lulu-Briggs.
While disclosing that both Seinye and Dumo gave their consent for the setting up of the Conciliation Committee, the Amanyanabo appealed for understanding from all interested parties as the continued delay of the burial occasioned by the disagreement is an embarrassment to the Kalabari people.
The committee has the following terms of reference: To appeal to all parties to halt the ongoing media war, ensure that all pending suits/injunctions delaying the burial are vacated and facilitate the smooth implementation of the processes and activities for the burial jointly agreed upon by both parties.
The committee is not involved in the distribution or sharing of the estate of the late chief as that shall be resolved by the family after the burial.
The Abonnema Council of Chiefs according to the terms of reference can only get involved if duly called upon to do so by the family as the mandate of the Committee is only to see to the peaceful interment of the late Head of Young Briggs House.
The Amanyanabo appealed to members of the committee to work assiduously to ensure, if possible, that the burial should take place within the next 30 days, as according to him, finance would not be a problem to have his mortal remains laid to rest.
He urged them to interface with everyone involved in the matter, in order to ensure that the late philanthropist is peacefully and timely interred.
The committee is chaired by Chief Ambie Marcus Georgewill, Paramount Head of Otaji Group of Houses, while Emeritus Prof. Nimi Briggs is to serve as alternate chairman, with Chief David Briggs and Chief Tonte Horsfall as co-secretaries.
