By Dave Okpogadie, Asaba
The families of Chief Biakpara Ologbo of Tamigbe in Burutu Local Government Area and Diokpa Harold Ezeamaka of Ubulu Uku, Aniocha South Local Government Area both in Delta state, in response to some media reports that a corpse was brought for burial at Ubulu Uku for burial and on discovery of missing body parts, the community youths went wild in anger, thereby causing havoc, have come out to debunk the story which they described as lies from the pit of hell.
According to the reports, the deceased, spouse to a retired senior officer of the Nigerian Air Force and an elder statesman, Rt. Hon. Wing Commander P.Y. Biakpara, had her eyes, tongue and other parts of her body missing and the discovery was made when she was to be buried.
In a release duly signed by members of the two families and made available to journalists, it was stated that the story was untrue and some mischief makers were out to tarnish the image of the elder statesman.
According to the release, the bereaved elder statesman, who has yet to come to terms with the loss of his wife had been further thrown into trauma since the unfounded story made appearance at the news stand.
Setting the record straight, the release revealed that the late Mrs Comfort Biakpara died on 2nd January, 2022 at the Federal Medical Centre, Asaba after child birth.
“On the day of the burial, 5th of March, 2022, the families Biakpara and Ezeamaka were present at the FMC to collect the remains of the deceased. Mr Paul Ezeamaka and Mr Chuks Ezeamaka, two direct younger brothers of the deceased and other family members were present while Mr David Biakpara, Barr. Roland Ombe and others represented the Biakpara family.”
The release revealed further that the corpse was inspected and bathed and placed in the casket for the final journey to Ubulu Uku, her hometown and Chuks Ezeamaka was the only person with the corpse in the ambulance. None of the Biakpara family members was in the ambulance.
Trouble, however, started midway into the rites of passage ceremony when Mr Paul Ezeamaka, brother to the deceased, who was also part of the team that inspected the corpse at the mortuary, halted the ceremony, alleging that the corpse eyes were missing.
Paul and Chuks allegedly instigated the community youths to block all access roads to the funeral arena. The youths came to the arena with dangerous weapons and threatened to shoot anyone who attempted to leave the funeral arena. They opened the casket and stripped the corpse naked but the corpse was found to be intact.
In order to clear every doubt, a call was put across to FMC Asaba mortician from the burial arena and a second mortician and a native of Ubulu Uku was also invited to inspect the corpse. Both morticians confirmed no part of the deceased was tampered with.
After this, the youths led by Paul and Chuks came up with another demand that the burial funds be handed over to them, meaning, the funds should be retrieved from the oldest of the siblings, Mr Harold Ezeamaka Jr. and be handed to Paul Ezeamaka.
The Biakpara family refused to be involved as they made it clear that they no longer had control over monies released to Mr Harold Ezeamaka for the funeral.
Ezeamaka family spokesman, Alhaji Zulu who was embarrassed and incensed with the actions of Mr Paul and the youths threatened to ask the community elders and guests to leave the funeral service. The intervention of Alhaji Zulu restored some sanity and the youths demanded 30 minutes to reach a decision.
In the process of deliberation, the youths had disagreement which resulted in fighting and it became a total chaos on the funeral ground. The guests who were held captive all along scampered for safety. Many jumped into their cars and fled. The husband’s family also fled the scene.
The Ezeamaka family, realising they were alone, decided to lower the corpse into the already prepared grave at about 5:30p.m. according to Alhaji Zulu, Engr. Emeka Iyegbunuwe and Prof. Mordi of Delta state University.
In a chat with the husband of the deceased, Wing Commander P.Y. Biakpara, he revealed that, contrary to the mischief makers who alleged that he didn’t attend his wife’s burial because of what he did, he did not attend the burial because according to their tradition, husbands don’t bury their wives.
“We don’t participate in the burial rites of our wives in our tradition. My family was adequately represented and there were many dignitaries who attended the burial because of me like Prof. Mordi, Prof. Amaka among other Professors.”
Biakpara, who was a Commissioner in Delta State under former governor, Chief James Ibori, identified Paul and Chuks Ezeamaka as the brain behind the spurious allegations.
“I was given a bill for the burial and I channel all the money they asked me to pay to the eldest brother but the youngest two of the siblings, Paul and Chuks wanted the money to be paid to them.”
According to him, his wife died in the hospital and was moved to the mortuary and from mortuary, she was moved to the village for burial.
“They were the custodian to the corpse. I was never a custodian. When she died, both families were there and when she was kept in the mortuary both families were also there. The day the corpse was taken from the mortuary, both families were present. They inspected her and bathed her before she was kept in the ambulance. In the ambulance, it was only their family that was there.”
He lamented the treatment that was given to the remains of his wife as she was stripped naked in the public by Paul and Chuks.
Wing Commander Biakpara rtd, however, promised to seek redress in the court of law.