THE corpse of Dr Ifeanyichukwu Nwobodo, son of Second Republic governor of the old Anambra State, unexpectedly disappeared yesterday hours before it was to be interned.
The disappearance was fallout of disagreement within the Nwobodo family on where to bury the deceased. The remains had been moved from Abuja, where the younger Nwobodo died of cancer three weeks ago, to the Amechi Awkunanaw family home town of the Nwobodos for burial yesterday.
However, a dispute soon arose over where to bury him. Chief Nwobodo was said to have refused that the remains be buried in the compound. This infuriated the elders of the community who saw the stance of the former governor as a violation of the community’s tradition that the first son inherits the father’s obi whether in life or in death provided he was married and had male children.
After long fruitless effort to persuade Senator Nwobodo to submit to tradition, the youths of Amechi Awkunanaw community became restive and started protesting. It was gathered that the former governor had directed that the deceased be buried in the compound of the bungalow he (father) built for him shortly after his death.
The decision of the former governor did not go down well with the siblings of the deceased and a section of the community who insisted that the corpse should be buried in his father’s compound. As sympathizers converged on Chief Nwobodo’s country home for the funeral, it was soon discovered that the corpse was missing. Among the dignitaries were Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu, Senators, Chris Ngige and Gilbert Nnaji, former Imo State Governor, Achike Udenwa, former Anambra State Governor, Peter Obi and former Information and Communication Minister, Frank Nweke jnr. The dignitaries attempted to mediate in the dispute, but both parties in the disagreement refused to shift ground, holding tenaciously to their different positions. Even the intervention of the Anglican Bishop of Enugu Diocese, Bishop Emmanuel Chukwuma who accepted to bury the deceased in the church compound at nearby St Mathew’s Anglican Church yielded no fruits. Nwobodo’s children told the Bishop to do away with the idea of burying their brother in the church, saying that his remains must rest in their father’s compound. Following the development, the funeral was stalled as dignitaries and other sympathizers dispersed. As at 5.30 pm yesterday, the whereabouts of his corpse remained unknown, although unconfirmed sources said, it was most likely that his siblings took away the corpse to embarrass their father. The corpse remained missing at press time.