- A Magistrate’s Court sitting in Olori, Ikwuano Magisterial District of Abia State, has halted the burial of the late traditional ruler of Ntalakwu Oboro Autonomous Community, His Royal Highness, Prof. Sam Ajiri, pending an autopsy to determine the cause and time of his death.
Chief Magistrate N. R. Olujie issued the order after hearing a motion filed by the monarch’s first son, Mr. Dike Ajiri, and four others — Chief Uzondu Johnson, Mr. Armstrong Okorocha, Mr. Henry Ekpe, and Mr. Onuoha Chukwuno — against the monarch’s widow, Mrs. Chinwe Ajiri.
Also listed as respondents in the suit were Ashes to Ashes Funerals Limited, the Assistant Inspector-General of Police, Zone 9, and the Inspector-General of Police.
The applicants, through their counsel, Orgmore Kanu, urged the court to restrain the respondents from proceeding with the burial without an autopsy, insisting that the examination was necessary to establish the true cause and time of the monarch’s death.
They further accused Mrs. Ajiri of planning to bury the traditional ruler without the knowledge or consent of his first wife, Mrs. Eileen Ajiri, his first son, or his brothers.
In his ruling, Magistrate Olujie held that the application had merit and that granting it would serve the ends of justice.
The court cited a legal opinion issued by AIG Emmanuel Ade, Director of Legal Services at the Force Headquarters, Abuja, who recommended that an autopsy be conducted by a government-approved medical team, with representatives from both parties present during the process.
Consequently, the court restrained Mrs. Ajiri from burying the late monarch until the autopsy is completed, as requested by his first son, first wife, and brothers.
Ashes to Ashes Funerals Limited was equally restrained from releasing the remains of the late monarch to Mrs. Ajiri or any other person without the consent of his son, who was recognised by the court as the head of the family, alongside the monarch’s kinsmen and cabinet.
The court also barred Mrs. Ajiri from engaging thugs or armed men to influence or carry out the burial of the deceased ruler.
Furthermore, the court directed the AIG Zone 9, the Inspector-General of Police, and all officers handling the matter to retain custody of the mortuary tally and release it only for the purpose of conducting the autopsy.
The ruling followed rising tension in the Ntalakwu Oboro community over the burial arrangements, as the monarch’s death — which reportedly occurred in September 2024 — had become a source of dispute among family members.
Mrs. Ajiri was said to have told police investigators in Zone 9, Umuahia, that the late Eze Ajiri died in December 2024, a claim that further deepened the controversy surrounding his demise.
Until his death, HRH Prof. Sam Ajiri was the Apu I of Ntalakwu Oboro Autonomous Community in Ikwuano Local Government Area of Abia State.
