Governor Babagana Zulum and the Shehu of Borno, Abubakar Umar Garbai El-Kanemi held funeral prayers for the late Shehu of Dikwa, Mohammed Ibn Masta II at Maiduguri palace. The Saturday prayers led by Imam Idaini of Borno, Imam Shettima Mamman Saleh, were joined with other top government officials, immediately after Zulum presented the staff of office to the emir of Biu, Mai Mustapha Umar II. Mai Masta II died at the age of 75 in a private hospital in Abuja on Saturday, after an over three-year illness in Maiduguri, the state capital. He described the death of the monarch as shocking with a great loss to the entire people of Borno state and the country. While lamenting the passing away of the monarch, he said: “It is a very sad moment for the people of Borno State, and in particular, the people of Dikwa Emirate Council. “The late Shehu was a legend, he was humble, and a very generous person. “We will miss him a lot,” praying that may God in his infinite mercy forgive and admit him into paradise.” He said the monarch’s death was so shocking, because he was a unifying factor in the Dikwa Emirate Council (DEC). He said that his absence will seriously create a vacuum not only in the emirate, but the entire state ravaged by over a decade long Boko Haram insurgency. On Biu’s activities cutoff, he said: “There should be no way we will continue our scheduled activities in Borno south; while we lost a king. “We returned immediately in order to witness the funeral prayers.” El-Kanemi, also described the death of the late monarch as a great loss to the entire people of the State. “It is very sad and a great pity actually. This is a great loss for us,” he said, noting that the late monarch is one of the respected rulers, and ranked second in the state’s traditional institutions. “After me (Abubakar) is the Shehu of Dikwa in traditional title holdings in Borno,” he said, adding that may God grant him paradise.
