A heavy pall of grief has settled over Daura, the hometown of late President Muhammadu Buhari, in Katsina State as mourners in their hundreds continue to troop into his family residence to offer condolences.

According to a statement by security consultant and counter insurgency expert, Zagazola Makama, on Monday, men, women, and children, some in tears, others in stunned silence besieged the home, expressing shock and sorrow over Buhari’s death.

Nigeria’s former President and one of its most defining post-independence figures, Buhari, died on Sunday at the age of 82.

Buhari passed away in London, United Kingdom, where he had reportedly been receiving medical care in recent weeks. The precise cause of his death has yet to be disclosed.

Confirmation of his passing came in a brief but solemn message from his longtime spokesman, Mallam Garba Shehu, who took to his official X (formerly Twitter) handle, @GarShehu, at 5:11 p.m. to relay the family’s announcement.

“The family of the former President has announced the passing on of the former President of Nigeria, Muhammadu Buhari, GCFR, this afternoon in a clinic in London. May Allah accept him in Aljannatul Firdaus, Amin,” the statement read.

Buhari’s death brings to a close a remarkable public life that spanned more than four decades, during which he served Nigeria both as a military ruler and as an elected civilian president, a distinction shared by only one other Nigerian leader, Olusegun Obasanjo.