Kenyan gospel singer, Ruth Matete, has informed the Nigerian High Commission in Kenya that they can keep the body of her Nigerian husband, John Apewajoye, who died in Kenya on April 11 as she is no longer interested in burying him.
The 34-year-old who is three months pregnant with Apewajoye’s child had sued the High Commission over their refusal to release his body to her.
She has now written a letter to the commission through her lawyer, Robert Odanga, telling them that she is no longer interested in Apewajoye’s body.
“You can hold the body and do with it as you please,” the letter reads in part.
While her lawyer, Odanga said the ‘Na Wewe’ singer will “now try to move on and should not be contacted in regard to the burial.
Odenga had in May accused the mission of hindering his client’s efforts to bury her late husband even though she had been permitted to do so by his family in Nigeria.
“It is common knowledge that the body cannot be subjected to a second postmortem because the initial exercise has already compromised the body.
“The toxiological test results are also out, so holding the body does not make sense, it only adds to her frustration a a widow who is still mourning,” he said.
Apewajoye, 42, died on April 11 in a Kenyan hospital where he was being treated for burns suffered while allegedly trying to fix a gas cylinder at their home.
An autopsy revealed that he died from multiple organ failure caused by the burns he sustained in the accident.
After the autopsy, the Nigerian High Commission directed the Kenyan police and the hospital to hold his remains until it authorises its release.
