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Tragic!!! by kelvee(m): 9:44am On Jan 31, 2016 |
The leadership of St. John’s Anglican Church, Agbarho in
Ughelli North Local Government Area of Delta State was
thrown into confusion when the church vicar, scheduled
to lead a team of ministers at a funeral service, suddenly
died after he was rushed to hospital.
Venerable Stephen Eseteru Ogue, JP, 53, author of several
Christian books, including ‘Escathology: The rapture of the
Saints’, ‘Foundation for marital bliss’ and ‘The potential
power of the Holy Spirit’, died at about 7.45 a.m. on
Friday, December 11, 2015, two hours before he was
billed to officiate at a funeral service. Until his sudden
death of cardiac arrest at Lily Hospital, Deco Road, Warri,
the Anglican venerable, according to his first daughter,
Oghenenyoreme Ogue, was suffering from diabetes and
high blood pressure.
The hearse
conveying the
remains of the
woman whose
burial the paster
was supposed to
preside at,
mourners,
including a large
delegation of the
church’s Women
Guild as well as
members of the
Anglican Fasting
and Prayer
Society, had
gathered in front
of the church
building as early
as 9.25 a.m. for the service billed for 10.00 a.m.
Unaware of the tragedy that had occurred, the mourners,
who had been warned the previous night against lateness
to the funeral service, waited patiently for the officiating
ministers to receive the body at the West Door (entrance
of the church) in accordance with Anglican doctrine but
no pastor was in sight. Meanwhile, other members of the
church and visitors kept trooping into the church
premises for the funeral service.
Worried by the development, members of the mourning
family began to call the vicar’s phone line and a voice
answering to urge them to be patient. The calls to
Reverend Friday Erutere, billed to assist the venerable at
the funeral service, were initially ignored until he
answered to similarly sue for patience, saying he was on
his way to the church.
Erutere, who conducted the service of songs with Rev.
Wisdom Eghagha, the previous night, had warned against
lateness, stressing that, in Anglican Church, such lapse
attracts a fine of N10,000.
After about 45 minutes delay, a Toyota car, said to be
owned by the vicar/archdeacon, hurried into the church
premises and made its way straight to the staff quarters
,to the relief of those waiting outside the church.
Immediately, people started regrouping around the
hearse with the hope that the service would soon begin.
But, the relief soon turned to despair when the
regrouping band of mourners discovered that the
occupants of the car were only two female members of
the family and the pastor’s driver.
The waiting had just begun. In the anxiety, nobody
observed that the car, which was later learnt to have
taken the venerable out of the church premises that early
morning, did not bring him back. The only occupants of
the car at that moment besides the driver, were his wife,
Felicia and his eldest daughter, Oghenenyoreme.
Eventually, 60 minutes after the scheduled time of service,
Erutere, accompanied by two others, arrived at the West
Door to officially receive the corpse and proceeded with
the funeral service.
Despite the commencement of proceedings, anxiety was
still palpable as church members continued to ask after
the whereabouts of the venerable, who had, on several
occasions, enjoined members of the Women’s Guild to be
punctual for that particular service and had promised to
lead the church delegation to Okpara Inland for the
interment. Nobody was providing answers to questions.
Not even his assistant who, some observed later,
appeared agitated and confused to the extent that, for
the first time in a funeral service, there was no
communion and there was no offertory. By far, the most
worrisome was the treatment accorded the National
President of the Christian Association of Nigeria, CAN,
Pastor Ayo Oritsejafor, who took time off his church’s
three -day crusade at the Warri Township Stadium, as a
mark of honour for the fallen mother.
As the mourners departed the church for Okpara Inland,
venue of the interment, there was no word about the
sudden death of the vicar of the Agbarho church where
another Anglican canon, Rev. Benedict Akpoguma, took
over proceedings. Put simply, neither the mourners nor
well wishers, who had travelled from long distances,
including Mr. John Salubi of the NNPC, Dr. Francis
Eghwubare of Delta State University, Mr. Joshua
Onoronimighwu of Central Bank of Nigeria, Mr. Victor
Onogagamue of Delta State Sports Commission, Barrister
Joseph Ogedegbe, and a former NBA Chairman of
Ughelli Local Government, were briefed on the reason for
the funeral’s delay.
When our correspondent visited the home of the vicar,
the wife [Felicia] was lying on the bed despondent with a
few church members shielding her and making sure her
health condition did not degenerate. Only the first
daughter, Oghenenyoreme, could volunteer
comments,although, she was unable to explain the
mystery behind the death of her father, as, according to
her, they were trained to submit to the will of God in all
circumstances.
However, the daughter said they had prayed together that
morning in accordance with family tradition, without any
visible signs of danger, and the ebullient father retired to
the couch in the sitting room apparently to relax.
“After a while, I noticed that daddy was no longer
breathing normally and I raised the alarm to draw my
mum’s attention. She quickly called the driver and we
carried him to the car and drove straight to the hospital in
Warri. That is all I can tell you, because nobody told us
anything about his state of health until the bishop came
later that day to break the sad news to us,” she tearfully
narrated. |
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