One week after she was gruesomely murdered by armed robbers in Effurun, Delta state, on Friday, October 1o, the remains of Ms Frances Oneya, daughter of a former military administrator of Kano state, Brigadier General Dominic Oneya was buried amidst tears last Friday.
The heavens opened and joined hundreds of weeping mourners as they bid farewell to the 35-year-old mother of four, who was laid to rest on in the ancestral home of his grieving father at Ehwerhe-Agbarho, Ughelli North local government area of the state.
Her final journey commenced at the St Jude Catholic Church GRA, Effurun, on Thursday when Rev Fr Emmanuel Tobi led Very Rev Fr Ambrose Abaka Jr and over six other priests to officiate at a very poignant vigil mass for the vivacious lady who was murdered in her prime by armed robbers.
She was on her way from a new generation bank located on PTI Road Effurun, when the hoodlums accosted and fatally shot her on Ovie Palace Road. The hoodlums thought a ‘Ghana-must-go’ bag with which she was carrying her stock of cloths meant for sale was loaded with money.
Several hundreds of family members, friends and acquaintances whose lives and hearts had been touched by the wonderful lady, joined her parents, children and siblings to bid farewell to a woman, whose promising life was snuffed out before her time.
In a stirring tribute at the Requiem Mass held at the St Jude Catholic Church, on Friday October 17, her 17-year-old daughter, Patricia Oghenetega, in a sorrowful voice urged the mourners not to shed much tears for her mother any longer. She remarked that the heavy downpour that heralded the mass and burial was indication that the heavens was united with them in their grief over the death of a woman who sacrificed so much for her children.
“I’ve told myself no more tears, because it hurts to know that she didn’t live for herself but for me and my three brothers. Life was given, and God needed an angel, so I’m content with her not being around. Everybody needs a guardian angel, me and my family now have one.”
Nevertheless, she said she was hopeful that her mother’s killers would soon join her (in death), remarking that death was the end of all men.
Gen Oneya, a former President of the defunct Nigerian Football Association (NFA), who attended the mass with other mourners, including Olorogun O’tega Emerhor and Chief Solomon Edoja, bore his grief with stoic equanimity throughout the mass. He did not betray the sorrow and anguish usually visible when a man is playing the unusual role of a father burying his daughter; he even managed rueful smiles occasionally until the end of the service.
One of Frances’ siblings, Theodora, said she was grateful to God for the four kids that her late sister left behind, adding, “the news of your death reached the ends of the earth and everyone that heard was pained.”
Rev Fr Augustine Eruotor, in his consolatory message, described the late Frances as a woman who took delight in the worship of God. He said: “No human has been able to give the exact time of exit of from earth except God. According to human calculations, it’s always painful when we a loved one departs from earth, but we should be consoled in the fact there is life after death.”
Meanwhile, the burial of the woman last Friday led to widespread call for the state government and the police to take action to tackle crime in the society. Edoja, a former aide to Governor Emmanuel Uduaghan, decried the prevailing spate of insecurity in the state. He called for a manhunt to apprehend the criminals.
Olorogun Emerhor, who lost a son, Ijamani, in a similar incident five year ago, described the young lady’s death as horrible. He said, “It is a horrible and devastating incident, and highlights the existing state of high insecurity. A vibrant young woman went to the bank and never returned alive. Four young children are deprived of motherly care. Our hearts bleed! Only God can console General. Our prayers are with the family.”
Friends and relatives of Ms Oneya also took to the social media to demand action on her killers. One Ijeoma Sheila Philips in her post on Facebook said, “These robbers have murdered sleep, they will never have rest until they are brought to justice.”
Police Public Relations Officer, Delta Command, Celestine Kalu, a Deputy Superintendent of Police, in a telephone chat with our reporter shortly after the incident, had vowed that the criminals would be apprehended and made to face justice.
