A 3-month mourning interval has been declared for the late Ijaw monarch of Seimbiri Kingdom in Burutu Native Authorities Space of Delta State, Charles Ayemi-Botu.
The deceased, popularly generally known as the Lion of the Niger, was the primary Govt Chairman of the Conventional Rulers of Oil Minerals Producing Communities of Nigeria and the Life Patron of the physique.
His demise was formally introduced on Saturday at a gathering of the Conventional Council of Chiefs of Seimbiri Kingdom by way of the spokesman, Chief Alexander Ebisine, at Okpokunou, the standard headquarters of the dominion.
In keeping with the spokesman, the monarch died on October 5, 2023. He was aged 75.
To mourn the monarch, the standard council said that there can be no social actions reminiscent of weddings and burials, all through the mourning interval starting from Friday, January 5, 2023.
After the mourning interval, the date can be introduced for the funeral of the monarch, the council mentioned.
The normal council described the king as “a fantastic ruler who got here, noticed, and conquered, abandoning a path of unprecedented growth within the Seimbiri Kingdom throughout his 29-year reign on the throne”.
The spokesman said, “On behalf of the Seimbiri Conventional Council of Chiefs, I want to formally announce the transition of our most revered monarch, King Charles Ayemi-Botu, Paramount Ruler of Seimbiri Kingdom, to the good past to hitch his ancestors.
“King Charles Ayemi-Botu handed away peacefully on October 5, 2023.
“Following the passage of our monarch, three months of mourning has been declared within the Seimbiri Kingdom.
“Throughout this era, there might be no social actions reminiscent of marriages and burials, and many others., all through mourning”.
Ebisine famous that each one little children of the Seimbiri Kingdom at dwelling and within the diaspora are in a mourning temper and can stay so till the ultimate burial ceremony is accomplished.
He mentioned {that a} condolence register had been opened on the palace and his residence in Warri.
Additionally commenting on the incident, the Chairman of the Seimbiri Conventional Council of Chiefs, Chief T.M.O. Douglas, mentioned the dominion had misplaced a king whose voice on problems with growth within the Niger Delta couldn’t be stunned.
With the dominion in a mourning temper, he urged for calm simply as he suggested all to keep up the sanctity of the passage of the Seimbiri monarch.
The deceased was born on January 18, 1948, at Okpokunou within the then Western Ijaw.
He reigned for 29 years, having ascended the throne on April 4, 1995, when he was offered with the Employees of Workplace by the then Navy Administrator of Delta State, Group Captain Ibrahim Kefas, after being topped on April 2, 1994, consistent with the customs and traditions of Seimbiri Kingdom.