Dignitaries gathered yesterday in Sokoto to
give the 18th Sultan, Alhaji Ibrahim Dasuki, a worthy final farewell.
But the solemn ceremony had a tinge of drama.
His son, detained former National Security Adviser (NSA), Col. Sambo Dasuki,
rejected the Federal Government’s offer of a presidential aircraft to attend
the interment.
Dasuki would not attend his father’s burial
“with security escorts like a criminal”.
He said he was prepared to give his father
the last honour only if the government complied with the court’s ruling on his
bail.
According to sources, the health of the
former Sultan deteriorated in the last two weeks and the government was availed
with a security report on him.
On compassionate ground, the Federal
Government granted the former NSA the leave to visit his father but he declined
because of the condition attached to the permission.
It was gathered that Dasuki was unhappy that
the government asked him to go and see his father at a time it was obvious he
could no longer recognise him.
The ex-NSA also said he could not see his
father as a detainee when a court had granted him bail.
A source in government, who spoke with our
correspondent, said: “When we received report that the 18th Sultan was
critically ill, we offered the ex-NSA the opportunity to see his father in the
last two weeks but he rejected it. He said the court’s ruling on his bail
should be respected. But the bail was granted only in respect of one of the
cases filed against him.
“After the death of the Sultan, the
government made a presidential jet available to him to attend the burial but he
declined the offer.”
A family source however said the ex-NSA
insisted that he would not see his father or attend the burial as a detainee.
The source quoted Dasuki as saying: “I cannot
see my father like a criminal. They asked me to go to my father, escorted by
security detail instead of granting me bail.
“Two, at the time the offer came, my father
was critically ill and he was not in a position to recognise me again. I only
told them to abide by the law by respecting the court’s ruling on my right to
bail.
“When my father died, they said a
presidential jet is available to take me to Sokoto with escorts like a
criminal. How does it sound to attend your father’s burial like a criminal?”
It was learnt that the late former Sultan
sent a copy of the Holy Quran to his son, through his wife.
Another family source added: “When it was
impossible for the late 18th Sultan to see his son, he sent him a copy of the
Holy Quran as a parting gift before his health deteriorated.
“The late Sultan returned from London in
January and he had no opportunity to see his son before he died. We have taken
it as Allah’s will.”
Minister of Interior Abdulrahman Danbazau
confirmed in Sokoto yesterday that the former NSA declined the offer to visit
his late father in an Abuja hospital and to be at his funeral.
Speaking to reporters after the burial, he
said: ‘’ We discussed with the DG SSS yesterday and he (the ex-NSA) was offered
the opportunity to visit his late father on his hospital bed in Abuja.
‘’ He declined and he preferred to pray for
him. He was also offered the opportunity to be in Sokoto throughout the
mourning period. He also declined, preferring to pray for him.’’
The late Dasuki died on
Monday night, a few weeks to his 93rd birthday.
His remains were buried according to Islamic
injunctions at the Hubbaren Shehu, where emirs’ bodies are interred, a few
metres from the palace, after a prayer led by the Chief Imam of Sultan Bello
Mosque, Sokoto , Malami Akwara.
Sokoto State Governor Aminu Tambuwal was
absent. He is believed to be away on an official engagement.
The remains of the former Sultan, who reigned
between 1988 and 1996 when he was deposed and banished to Kaduna by the Sani
Abacha regime, arrived at the airport at about 12:47pm aboard West
Links aircraft N604WL. They were conveyed in an ambulance followed by a
motorcade to the Sultan’s palace.
Seven aircraft, including the one that
conveyed the body landed in Sokoto,ý carrying prominent people to the funeral.
