Why I stormed out of my father’s lying-in-state —Charles Oputa

Charles Oputa, otherwise known as Charly Boy, stunned many at the lying-in-state of his father, Justice Chukwudifu Oputa, in Owerri, Imo State, on Wednesday, when he suddenly walked out of the venue of the event while the procession was still on.

Imo State governor, Rochas Okorocha, members of the state executive council and the national chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Odigie Oyegun, were all seated inside the International Conference Centre, Owerri, when Charly Boy suddenly got up and decided to walk out of the venue with many asking what could have prompted his action.
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Many people who saw him when he started walking out of the venue had thought he was going out to attend to an issue that might have demanded his presence outside the hall, but it was not to be.

Area father, as he’s fondly called, ordered his aides, security and cameramen inside the hall to follow him immediately, apparently telling them he was done with the event he was said to have worked days and nights to make a success.

Nigerian Tribune gathered that Charly Boy decided to leave the venue when it was becoming obvious that the service was beginning to turn to a political rally of sort, a development which did not go down well with the entertainer.

Earlier, during his speech, Governor Okorocha, who came into the venue amid cheers from the people, had eulogised the late Oputa, describing him as a man of high integrity, who, until his death, did not compromise on what he stood for.

Supporters of the governor and other members of the APC in the state had besieged the venue hours before the arrival of the state governor, dancing and singing as they awaited the governor.

Charly Boy, it was learnt, was said to have been angered by the seeming political rally which the lying-in-state could lead to owing to the dimension to which it was heading.

He was also not too happy with the late arrival of governor Rochas and members of his kitchen cabinet to the venue as the event had to be delayed until his arrival.

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