NO LESS than 1,500 officers of the NSCDC will be deployed in Ekiti State for the burial ceremonies of the late deputy-governor of Ekiti State, Mrs. Funmi Olayinka.
This is according to the Ekiti State commandant of the NSCDC, Mr. Augustine Obiekwe, who made the disclosure to journalists Wednesday in Ado-Ekiti.
The deployment is to ensure a “hitch-free” event, even as the state government continue to encourage citizens to come out to be part of the days-long event to give the former deputy governor a befitting burial.
Olayinka’s body arrived the Government House in Ado-Ekiti at about 5:30pm, to the teary reception of Governor Kayode Fayemi and other dignitaries present.
Accompanying the body of the late deputy-governor from Lagos was Mrs. Bisi Fayemi, along with the husband of the deceased, Mr. Lanre Olayinka, alongside their children.
A service of songs was previously held for Olayinka in Lagos.
Mrs. Olayinka died in a Lagos hospital on April 6 after a protracted battle with cancer.
Her remains left Lagos yesterday after a commendation service at Anglican Church of Ascension, Opebi, in a chartered Aero Contractors aircraft and landed in Akure airport at approximately 3:30 pm.
Secretary to the State Government, Alhaji Ganiyu Owolabi, and Chief Justice Ayo Daramola, led other government functionaries to receive the body at the airport.
“We thank God for the arrival of our princess who sacrificed herself for the service of the people. On behalf of the good people of Ekiti State, we cannot thank her enough,” said Governor Kayode Fayemi as he received the body of late Olayinka in Ado-Ekiti.
“She lived a short and eventful life. We thank God for giving her to us; we also thank God for taking her to the world where there would be no more worries.
“She fought a good battle, our peoples’ deputy governor, our peoples’ princess, we thank you. We pray God to grant her husband, her children, the entire Famuwagun family and her larger political family the fortitude to bear the irreparable loss.”
For several hours, commercial activities in the state capital were at a standstill as residents waited to pay their last respects.
Thousands of residents also lined the major streets to welcome the body.
The funeral procession was led by a Lagos-based funeral undertaker MIC, whose hearse conveyed the deputy governor’s remains in a steel casket draped with the national flag.