The Alleged Killling of Ihedigbo Mbaukwu's Mother by Village Deity over Adultery: a Synopsis on the Role of Deities in African Society
(Part 1)

Mr Ihedigbo Mbaukwu is a staff of one of the new generation banks and a regular commentator on social media. While Mbaukwu gives the impression of a man of virtues of himself before the public and bitterly castigates others ringing falsehood around them in the public domain, little did people know that Mbaukwu himself is a source of controversy back in his Umuokwom Ohiya village in Umuahia South Local Government Area of Abia State, a controversy that allegedly led to his mother being killed by their village Deity.

The story has it that Ihedigbo Mbaukwu is a product of extra marital affairs by his late mother who concealed her adulterous ways and made it look like her husband was the owner of the pregnancy. It is said that in Umuokwom Ohiya village, it is a taboo of deadly consequences for a woman to have extra marital affairs. It is a great offence to the deity of the village that has no antidote. The only antidote is for the culprit to quickly confess and some rituals would be carried out on her thereaftee as a way of "cleansing the land"! But if she refuses to confess despite what the villagers term "a series of warning sicknesses" from the deity over the years, she would be hit with one final one from which she can never recover. What is more, if she still decides to die without confessing, then the deity will go for the offspring(s) resulting from the adulterous affair, and as many of them will die mysteriously.

It was at this point that Ihedigbo's mother admitted to the villagers that her son Ihedigbo was a product of some of her adulterous affairs and that she pushed it to her husband in order to cover her shame. She pleaded for forgiveness before giving up the ghost on December 7, 2011, at just 48 years old.

This shameful occurence account for why Ihedigbo never celebrates his mum's milestones  posthumously, whether birthday, Mother's Day or such other occasions, unlike many others who lose their mums do. It is said that till date, Ihedigbo Mbaukwu has not forgiven his mum for bringing such a shame to him and their family, the reason, he had to relocate away from his State to another.

It is also said this is the same reason Ihedigbo, despite his regular writings and posting pictures of other people on social media, particularly his Facebook page, never ever posts his mother's picture. In fact, in an attempt to wipe out the shameful memory his mother left behind, Ihedigbo does not celebrate his father or siblings except himself.

The saddest part is that Ihedigbo's mother did not get to show him who his real father is before she died as she was too sick and close to death when she confessed her adulterous ways. Even at that, the people of Umuokwom Ohiya said it would even have been difficult for them to believe her if she had pointed to any man as being Ihedigbo's father because of the multiple affairs she was having with men then.

She was eventually thrown away into the forest by the traditional priests of the village, hence, the poster announcing her burial was terse in details as the usual details like conveying her body from the mortuary, lying-in-state and reception were left out because it was a taboo to retrieve her corpse left to rot in the village forest for any ceremony pertaining to burial. Only the church service was held without her corpse.

Na wah oh