Final burial rites begin Wednesday for late labour leader Abiodun Aremu
Abiodun Aremu, a former labour and civil society leader and socialist fighter, widely known as Comrade Areemson, who died this month, will be buried on Thursday, 23 October.
The internment is to be conducted at his residence near Ijako Sugar Bus Stop along the Lagos–Abeokuta Expressway in Ogun State, his family and associates have announced.
In a statement jointly endorsed by Funmi Sessi, the chairperson of the Lagos State chapter of the Nigeria Labour Congress, and Lanre Arogundade, the executive director of the International Press Centre, the burial committee said the funeral rites for the departed activist, renowned for leading rallies and street protests, will hold in three parts.
The first event, an afternoon of tributes themed “Celebrating the Life of a Steadfast People’s Revolutionary,” will take place from 12 to 4 p.m. on Wednesday, 22 October.
The location is the NURSES HOUSE (National Association of Nigerian Nurses and Midwives Lagos State Secretariat), 19 Amaraolu Street, near Pearlworth Hotel, close to the New African Shrine, off Agidingbi Road, CBD I, Lagos.
Leading human rights lawyer and Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Femi Falana, who also heads the burial committee, is to chair the tribute session. Representatives of mass organisations, including labour unions, pro-democracy groups, human rights bodies and the Cuban Embassy are expected to speak at the session.
Later on in the night, the associates and friends of Comrade Areemson will converge at his residence for a candlelight procession and vigil.
The lying-in-state holds on Thursday, 23 October at his residence from 7 to 10 am in the morning, after which a two-hour session of funeral orations and family tributes will begin before the interment proper.
Comrade Aremu was born in 1960 and passed away on the evening of 12 October after being struck by a hit-and-run driver while crossing a road near his home in Ota, Ogun State. He breathed his last as doctors strived to rescue him after being taken to the hospital.
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A well-known figure in the Nigerian labour movement, Mr Aremu served as the secretary of the Joint Action Front, a coalition of pro-labour civil society groups that champions workers’ rights and democratic reforms.
He was also a former secretary of the Labour and Civil Society Coalition and student union leader at Kwara State Polytechnic, Ilorin.