Nigeria's former President Muhammadu Buhari buried at family compound

Nigeria's former President Muhammadu Buhari was buried at his home in northwestern Katsina state on Tuesday, with several leaders in attendance, guarded by a heavy security detail.

Thousands of Nigerians gathered for public prayers in the town of Daura before the former leader was laid to rest in private at his family compound, which had been bustling with mourners paying their respects since his death over the weekend.

Buhari, who died at the age of 82 in a London clinic on Sunday, ruled Nigeria first as a military head of state in the 1980s and then later as an elected president, serving two terms from 2015 to 2023.

Nigeria's President Bola Tinubu, Africa's wealthiest person Aliko Dangote, the president of Guinea-Bissau and prime minister of Niger, as well as former Niger president Mahamadou Issoufou were all in attendance, local media reported.

Heavy security presence

The presence of Niger's Prime Minister Ali Lamine Zeine came after his country and Nigeria saw diplomatic relations deteriorate since a 2023 coup overthrew Niger's democratically elected President Mohamed Bazoum.

As Buhari's body made its way from England to Daura, less than 20 kilometres from the Niger border, a massive security presence of police, soldiers and plainclothes officers was deployed in the town.

Nigeria, particularly in the north, has for years suffered attacks from terrorists and armed gangs.

Buhari made history in 2015 as the first opposition candidate to defeat an incumbent leader at the ballot box.

Military honours

Images broadcast from inside the family compound showed a military band playing a final send-off for Buhari, whose remains were draped in the green-and-white Nigerian flag, as soldiers saluted and mourners dressed in colourful kaftans bowed their heads.

Young men climbed trees overlooking the courtyard to catch a glimpse of the final rites.

The flag was removed and his body, draped in white, was buried.

Security ahead of the internment was so tight that some of Buhari's family members found themselves locked out of the family compound on Tuesday afternoon.

'Upright man'

The day before the funeral, school-bound children were directed to return home as government institutions closed for a public holiday and period of mourning.

"Buhari was an upright man who did his best for Nigeria, but he was human not immune to shortcomings," Nasiru Abdullahi, a 35-year-old tyre mechanic, told AFP on the eve of the funeral.