RE: DUO Guest Author @thelastdash with Don't Wait Until It's Too Late: Celebrate Your Parents Now - MOST MEANINGFUL COMMENT WINS DUO!

I think there might be an underlying issue that makes the village elders to be the one who decides when they can do the funeral. Nigeria and especially Edo state where Benin city is part of has a strong tradition regarding marriage rites.

If a man fails to perform some rites when the wife is alive, during funeral of the woman, he must do everything that he failed to do as tradition demand else the corpse won't be buried. And these kind of rites over a deceased attracts heavy amount of money. That's what I think your friend case might be. And when it gets to this kind of thing, you need the consent of the elders before you can do anything.