The best thing that the living could do for the dead is to lay them to eternal rest, but for 94 years old Late Chief Matthew Ugwumba of Ozara village in Oru West local government area of Imo state, that would not be his case as his own son went to court and got an injunction stopping his burial.

On the day of his supposed interment, several guests from far and wide had assembled in preparation to give him a befitting burial, most deserving of his status as an illustrious son of the community. Assorted dishes had been prepared. Wines-local and foreign- had been bought and cooled, while different performance groups had been engaged; everyone was indeed looking forward to the glorious end of Chief Ugwumba’s journey in life as he gets lowered to his grave, having lasted up to 94 years, in a country where life expectancy still hovers around 53.

But this was not to be as the preparations were in top gear, a team of police personnel from the Mgbidi Police Division invaded the village, to enforce a court order, restraining the burial from taking place. In the prevailing circumstance. This instantly threw spanners in the wheel of progress as far as the burial rites were concerned, exposing the entire village to a somewhat embarrassing situation.

Revelations showed that the bone of contention was a court injunction, obtained by Julius Ugwumba, one of the sons of the deceased Mathew Ugwumba’s first wife (plaintiff), praying that his father should not be buried!

According to the suit with number: HOW/652/2019, the court order reads:

The Motion Exparte filed on 15th April 2019 praying for interim injunction restraining the Defendants from continuing with any arrangement for or concerning the burial of Pa Mathew Ugwumba, the alleged testator of the Will dated 13th November 2017, pending the determination of the interlocutory injunction filed in this suit. And after the hearing, K.A Nwakuche with Nkem Oputa of counsel for the Plaintiffs/Applicants, it is hereby, ordered that the Defendants be and are hereby in the interim restrained from continuing with any arrangements for or concerning the burial of Late Pa Mathew Ugwumba of Ozara, Oru West LGA or carry out the burial on 3rd May 2019 or any other date pending the determination filed on 15th April 2019

For many people in the community, the incident came as a rude shock, because so many consultations and peace parleys had been orchestrated prior to this period towards making sure that the deceased gets the rest he may have been yearning for as a living man.

According to the Chairman of the Community Development Association, Edmund Obodo Ebeloma, the lingering crisis which precipitated all these shameful developments was: http://irukkanews.com/index.php/2019/09/18/the-man-that-stopped-his-fathers-burial/

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