The management of llorin Muslim Cemetery on Friday rejected the corpse of a 47-year-old civil servant, Salami Adekunle, who was killed by lightning in Oro, lrepodun Local Government Area of Kwara.
Mr. Adekunle was struck to death on Thursday after a downpour.
The Coordinator of the cemetery, Abubakar Aliagan, told the News Agency of Nigeria in llorin that the cemetery had rejected the corpse.
According to Mr. Aliagan, the cemetery management unanimously rejected the burial of the deceased following an instruction that the corpse should not undergo the normal Islamic prayers and bath.
Mr. Aliagan noted that while the deceased was described as a practising Muslim during his life time, Muslims in his vicinity refused to accept that his death was an act of God.
He said the performance of traditional rituals on the corpse after his death and the instructions warning against conducting Islamic rites on it was unacceptable to the management of the cemetery.
“If the late Salami will sleep in our Muslim cemetery, we have to do it in line with lslamic rites,” Mr. Aliagan said.
The deceased, who hails from lnisa in Osun state, was until his death a staff of the Registry Department at the Kwara College of Education, Oro.
The Public Relations Officer of the institution, Adesola Adewoye, said the family of the deceased would meet and decide on the next line of action to take on the burial arrangement.
