A total of 33,000 communities in Kalabari Kingdom in Rivers State will participate in the burial rites of the late Amanyanabo of Kalabari, Professor Theophilus Princewill.
The late Princewill, who was the longest reigning monarch in the state and former chairman of the State Council of Traditional Rulers, will be buried on November 29 and November 30, 2023 at Buguma City, headquarters of Asari-Toru local government area of the state.
The chairman of the Central Working Committee (CWC) for the burial, Prince Tonye Princewill, spoke yesterday in Port Harcourt, while addressing a press conference on the activities line up for the funeral of the late monarch.
Princewill stated that burial of the late monarch would be the first pan-Kalabari funeral in the history of the kingdom, considering the fact that all the communities in the kingdom would participate.
The committee chairman explained that the late King handed over the Kalabari Kingdom to God before his death.
He said, “King Amachree handed over Kalabari Kingdom to God before his death. That was during the visit of Pastor Enoch Adeboye to Buguma. This is a big burial; the whole world is coming for this burial.”
Also, the chairman of the media and publicity sub-committee, Opunabo Inko-Tariah, said former President Goodluck Jonathan and his wife, Patience as well as the Senate President, Senator Godswill Akpabio, have indicated interest to attend the burial.
Inko-Tariah said Rivers State Governor Siminalayi Fubara and his Bayelsa State counterpart, Douye Diri, are expected at the event.