The Nigerian family who volunteer to dig graves in Kaduna

For more than 50 years, a family has dedicated themselves to maintaining the largest cemetery in the northern Nigerian city of Kaduna – thanks to some residents who don’t like the job of dealing with the dead.

Until a few weeks ago, they did it without official pay – digging graves, washing corpses and maintaining mass graves, receiving a small fee from mourners for their work.

Tudun Wada’s main cemetery was set aside for the city’s Muslim residents by government officials a century ago.

Abdullahi’s family became involved in the 1970s when two brothers – Ibrahim and Adamu – started working there.

The two brothers are now sleeping under the soil of the cemetery, and their sons are in charge of the grave.

“Their teachings to us, their children, was that God loves service and will reward us for this even if we do not get any benefit in the world,” Magaji, the eldest son of Ibrahim Abdullahi, told the BBC when asked why he chose to continue the work. unpaid retainers.

The 58-year-old is now in charge of Tudun Wada – herding operations with a staff of 18 or until recently – volunteers.

He and his two younger cousins ​​- Abdullahi, 50, and Aliyu, 40, (sons of Adamu Abdullahi) – are three full-time workers, who arrive at 07:00 to work 12 hours, seven days a week. a week.

They always need to be invited because, according to Muslim traditions, funerals must be organized within a few hours of a person’s death.

Magaji likes to call on his phone, whether it’s a relative or an imam – all the pastors in the city have his number.

“Many people have our numbers and as soon as someone dies, we call and immediately start working,” he said.

One of the three takes care of the corpse, which may include washing it and wrapping it in cloth.

The body is examined and the information is sent to others for burial.

This can take about an hour – two people take it in turns to dig down to 6ft (1.8m) – sometimes longer when it’s in the rocky area of ​​the cemetery.

They can dig a dozen graves a day – hard work in the heat of Kaduna.

“Today alone we have dug eight graves and it is not noon, some days are like that,” said Abdullahi, who started working at the cemetery when he was 20 years old.

The brothers faced a lot of difficulties – especially during the religious violence when conflicts broke out between the Christians living in the city and the Muslims. The two communities occupy opposite sides of the Kaduna River.

“We have had several religious conflicts in Kaduna but the one that sticks out to me the most was in the early 1990s. Many people were killed,” says Magaji.

“We went around collecting the bodies and taking them off the streets.”

Muslims were taken to Tudun Wada in the north of the city and Christians to the cemetery in the south.

He said: “It was a very difficult time and I was not late to work but this helped me to continue doing it.”

Usually, when the group is digging a grave, at the nearest mosque the imam announces during one of the five daily prayers that the funeral will take place.

Most of the worshipers go to the place where the body was prepared for prayer – then they take it to the cemetery for burial, and the funeral home is often full.

Once near the grave, the shrouded body is lowered – it is covered with sticks and broken clay pots as a sign of respect. The grave is filled to make a slightly raised bed.

After the ceremony is over and before the mourners leave, the grave keepers ask for donations.

This is often done by 72-year-old Inuwa Mohammed, the most senior worker at the cemetery, who explains the importance of the Abdullahi family to the community.

He used to work with the cousins’ fathers: “They were wonderful people who loved what they did and loved their children with this quality.”

The small amount of money collected sometimes buys lunch for the workers – but not enough for anything else. In order to survive, the family also has a small farm where they grow food.

Cemeteries are renovated after 40 years, which means that space is not the main issue – but maintenance and maintenance.

“There is a lot that is lacking right now – we don’t have enough equipment to work, or good security,” says Aliyu, the youngest of the cousins ​​who has worked there for 10 years.

He explains how one part of the wall collapsed, which caused people who were looking for scrap metal to steal grave markers.

Some graves have metal plates with name and date of birth and death – although many do not as Islamic religious leaders do not recommend displaying them. Most of them are described with stones and bricks or sticks.

In any case, the cousins ​​remember where everyone was buried and can guide people if they forget where their relative’s grave is.

Following the BBC’s recent visit to the cemetery, they have seen a dramatic economic change.

The chairman of the new council, whose office oversees the site, has decided to put it on the payroll.

“They deserve it, because of the great work they do every day,” Rayyan Hussain told the BBC.

“Cemeteries are the last homes for all of us and people who work so hard deserve to be paid, so my office would pay them as long as I am the chairman.”

The gauges confirm that the workers will start receiving monthly payments for the first time:

• five adults, including himself, earn 43,000 naira ($28; £22.50)
• others, including Abdullahi and Aliyu, are getting 20,000 naira ($13; £10.50).

This is far below the national average of $45 a month, but Mr Hussain says he hopes to increase his income “with time”.

He said it was unfortunate that the cemetery had been abandoned for many years by the previous leaders of the council.

They have plans to repair parts of the fence, install solar lights and increase security, the chairman added.

“I am also building a room in the cemetery where the bodies can be washed and prepared for the funeral, until now all this had to be done indoors.”

For Abdullahi’s family, it’s all a welcome investment – and Magaji hopes it will ensure that one of his 23 children will one day become a gravedigger.