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Shinkafi for burial in Sokoto

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The remains of the late Alhaji Umaru Shinkafi, the running mate to Chief Olu Falae in the 1999 presidential election, will be laid to rest today in Sokoto
Shinkafi, a former Director General of the Nigeria Security Organisation (NSO), the precursor to the Department of State Service (DSS), died on Wednesday at the Harefield Hospital, Hill End Road, Harefield, Middlesex, in the United Kingdom after a protracted illness.

Yesterday, national leader of the All Progressives Congress (APC) Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu and former interim National Chairman of the APC Chief Bisi Akande, commiserated with the family and friends of the deceased and Nigerians over the passing of the Marafan Sokoto, who died at 79.
According to a statement, his body will be interred after the Islamic funeral prayer (Janaza) at the Sultan Bello Mosque in Sokoto.
The statement issued by a senior counsellor in the Sokoto Caliphate and Magajin Garin Sokoto, Alhaji Hassan Danbaba, said the Janaza will be held immediately after the Jumaat prayers at the mosque located just outside the Sultan’s Palace.
“Marafa’s remains will arrive in Sokoto on Friday (today) morning. The Janaza rites will be held after the jumaat prayers, after which he will be interred at the Hubbare, here in Sokoto.
In a statement, Tinubu described the late Shinkafi as a patriot who served Nigeria well.
“He was a detribalised Nigerian who was passionate about the unity and progress of Nigeria. He was a man of great integrity and stable character as I have come to know him over decades.
“Shinkafi served as a foremost security expert helping Nigeria to establish an intelligence and security structure that serves the country up till today. His death is a great national loss.
“He was a leading northern leader and mobilizer and he built a network of friends across ethnic and religious divides. Soft-spoken but deeply knowledgeable and considerate, he was one not to let up on his conviction that the political elite must team up for the task of nation building.
“He will be sorely missed. His wisdom and people skills will also be missed. I condole with family and friends and with both the spiritual and political leadership in Sokoto.”
Chief Akande described Shinkafi as a long-standing friend.
“He had been my very good and dependable friend since he was Oyo state commissioner of police when I was the Secretary to the State Government. He very much desired that south-west and north-west political collaboration was essential for the stability of Nigeria.
“He demonstrated that passion most sincerely during the founding of APP in 1998. It is sad that he had been on one sick bed or another since the south-west and the north collaboration resulted into power with Buhari’s civilian federal government.
“Marafa is not immediately replaceable among the Nigerian patriots and his death is a shattering blow to the efforts towards unity and peace in Nigeria.”

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