Tears, tears and tears as Umuezikoha Heroes are finally buried.
4 min read
The world literally came to a standstill on Friday 29 November 2024 in Uba Umuaka Njaba LGA as four security officials of Umuezikoha Uba community who were brutally murdered by unidentified gunmen on Sunday July 7 2024 were laid to rest. The sad incident which took place along Umuaka Amaigbo Road near Hilltop Primary School Uba Umuaka sent shockwaves across the community and got many people in panic mood. A day before the burial date, the youths of the community embarked on a candle night procession which took them to the compounds of the bereaved families.
As the candle night procession was ongoing, several security agents were also busy at strategic corners of the entire Uba community where they monitored movements and provided adequate security for the vigil.
The following day being the day the community had set aside for the multiple burials, the youths of the community clad in black top and jeans trousers as they moved towards the boundary between Achara community and Orodo to wait for the ambulance vehicles and motorcade conveying the corpses home. It was indeed a long wait as they ambulance vehicles arrived very late.
Around 9:40 am, the ambulance vehicles arrived the Achara side of the Orlu Owerri Road. A good number of youths, friends and family members who could not control their emotions broke down in tears. When the other ambulance vehicles eventually arrived, the motorcade grew bigger and slowly they started to drive towards Afor Umuaka with the large crowd of mourners following them.
Already at Afor Umuaka, Umuaka Times reporters noticed that a heavy presence of people had lined up along Orlu Owerri Road and Umuaka Amaigbo Road waiting for the arrival of the corpses. The ever busy Afor Umuaka Modern Market remained closed throughout the burial hours. Girls, women and youths wailed, cried and shouted as they sighted the ambulance vehicles and those accompanying them approaching Afor Umuaka.
Schools along the roads also allowed their students and pupils the opportunity to witness the highly emotional moments when the corpses of their elderly ones who are now referred to as Umuezikoha Heroes were brought home for burial. The slow movement was then intensified by the number of people who had joined. The first stopover of the journey was somewhere shortly after Hilltop Primary School Uba where the boys were murdered on Sunday July 7, 2024. The youth leader of Umuezikoha community and the president general of Uba Umuaka Autonomous Community took time and addressed the mourners respectively. Their addresses were so emotional that Umuaka Times reporters monitoring the event nearly lost their emotions as well. After their separate addresses, the youths of the community decided to carry the caskets on their shoulders to the next port of call which was the palace of HRH Eze Henry Ojinnaka. Already waiting at the palace were the members of Umuezikoha Council of Chiefs and other top dignitaries of the community who received the corpses on behalf of the royal father of the community Eze Henry Ojinnaka.
After receiving the corpses and offered some prayers and libation in condemnation of the tragic multiple murders of the boys, the journey continued again. Each ambulance then drove to the family of the corpse it was carrying for lying in state.
When the lying in state came to an end after about an hour, the journey continued again to St Mary’s Catholic Church where all had been fully set for the requiem Mass. Before the trip to St Mary’s Catholic Church was made, a brief stopover at Hilltop Primary School Uba was also observed.
From Hilltop Primary School Uba to St Mary’s Catholic Church, people still could not control their tears even as the requiem Mass was going on.
When the Mass came to an end, each corpse was taken to his family where it was buried amidst tears from family and friends,thereby signaling the tragic end for Mr. Iwuala Emeka (13th October 1991), Tochukwu Okpara (10 February 1983), Orjiwuru Stanley (28 February 1988) and Onwuneme Chigozie (4th June 1978).
On the organization of the burial ceremonies, Umuaka Times observed that there was no reckless driving among motorcycle boys during the burial ceremonies because the use of motorcycle was banned in the community for the duration of the burial ceremonies. There was also a heavy presence of security agents and high profile government officials. It was indeed a big blow to the bereaved families and the entire Uba Umuaka community as their sons were brutally murdered by yet to be identified gunmen. Be that as it may, people still had cause to thank God for the crisis-free burial ceremonies for the murdered Umuezikoha Heroes.
