There was pandemonium, cataclysm, chaos and total confusion as mourners and sympathizers ran helter skater for safety and their dear lives over the weekend during the burial ceremony of an 82 year old Madam Vero Onye at Ekwereocha Amakohia in Ihitte/Uboma LGA of Imo State when one of her surviving sons, a ganja dreadlock haired middle aged man jumped into the grave insisting on being buried alive with her mother to press home his demand and insistence for the delay of the burial ceremony to allow his maternal uncles to show up.
The young man of about 52, said to be a father of three whose name was simply given as Peter had refused to attend the funeral mass of the mother at a local Catholic Church where his mother was held in high esteem with the decoration of Ezinne title. Rather he had disagreed with his two elder brother that the remains of the woman would not be interred until his uncles from nearby village in Ehime Mbano LGA arrive to pour sand into the grave as a last respect, resorted to throwing stones on the brothers when his ranting was ignored with the local Parish Priest bent on conducting the final rites and subsequent covering of coffin into the grave, he jumped into the grave, laid prostrate on top of the mothers casket and closed his eyes while grave diggers poured sand.
Pleadings and entreaties by relations and sympathizes fell on deaf ears as elders and sympathizers ran helter sketter at such “an abomination until the priest who was held spell bound could go no further in his prayers.
Vexed by the scenario, it took the courage of four hefty young men of the family to jump into the grave to force out the adamant young man with sand all over him was forced and dragged out to forestall any further upheaval. His relations also tied his hands and feet to allow proceedings continue.
Mourners were startled when the grave had been closed and the young man whose wife watched the events was released went into happy frenzy dancing to the administration of some fellows perhaps from his maternal home.
It was gathered that the woman had died in the house of the young man somewhere at Oru East when she was taken there after nearly two decades of absence from home and was described as a torn in the flesh of his two elder brothers.
Our correspondent gathered that in the same village a few months ago, a grave dug for the burial of a young graduate mother with one kid was closed with banana trucks as her kinsmen from Obowo hijacked her body from the convoy conveying the corpse from Enugu to Ihitte/Uboma on the grounds that her body was not to be buried inside a new house belonging to another mother of the family.
Observers say that this is not a good omen for the people of the area and that something has to be done to avert any calamities arising from the perceived abominations of the dead.
