Family and friends pay last tribute to Aloysius Nwokedi.
3 min read
January 5, 2024 was a day many will not be in a hurry to forget especially in the Ibele Autonomous Community In Njaba LGA Imo State. On this eventful day, the remains of the late High Chief Aloysius Nwokedi were committed to mother earth. In the early hours of the day, family and friends had gathered in the family house of the late High Chief as early as 7 am for them to join the motorcade to the mortuary of Umuaka Community Hospital and bring home the corpse of their brother, father, grandfather and husband.
In a short while, the trip to the mortuary began. Friends, family members as well as the vibrant youths of Ibele joined the trip to bring home their father, uncle, grandfather and husband.
At the mortuary, after a little while the remains of the high chief were wheeled into the ambulance and off to Ibele community, the people embarked upon. The first place the corpse of the man who was once the chairman of Ibele Autonomous Community touched was the palace of the royal father of the community HRH Eze Rufus Anyanwu. By the time the corpse arrived the compound of the monarch, the elders, the members of Ibele Council of Chiefs and the Catholic community had all gathered to wait for the great arrival of the man who sacrificed a lot for his community and Umuaka in general.
The moment the ambulance conveying the remains of the High Chief touched the palace compound, HRH Eze Anyanwu did not waste time to call upon the gods of the land to see their son and handle him well. He prayed to God to receive his soul in his Paradise and protect those who are alive.
After the brief prayer by the monarch, the motorcade left for the family of the High Chief for lying in state. During the lying in state, the Nwokedi family members were the first to pay their last respect before others were called to join. Several individuals and groups went in to the lying in state room to see the body of the father to many for the last time.
The next activity according to the announcement made by the MC during the burial ceremony was the celebration of a requiem Mass at St Andrews Catholic Church Ibele for the repose of the soul of the nonagenarian.
During the requiem Mass, the officiating priest at St Andrews Catholic Church Ibele extolled the virtues of the highly devoted catholic faithful. He used the opportunity and appealed to Christians to emulate the footsteps of Jesus Christ. He finally prayed to God to accept the soul of the dead man in His Paradise.
Soon after, the church came to an end and to the Nwokedi family house they congregation went for the internment. After a brief graveside prayer, the body of the 90 year old High Chief Aloysius E. Nwokedi, the Alaagbaoso 1 of Ibele was lowered to the grave for the beginning of the trip of eternity.
