It
was at 1:00pm on Sunday, February 22, 2009, that late Mr. Jerry?s younger
brother, Barry Irabor, a military personnel at the Military School, Jaji,
invited Ika Weekly to his family compound, Ebudo Quarters, Ozanogogo in Ika
South Local Government Area; to say that he was not satisfied with the way his
late brother was to be buried, and has decided to give reasons why the corpse
had to be taken back to the mortuary till further notice.
According
to Barry Irabor, while in Jaji, he received a call from the wife of the
deceased, Mrs. Caroline Irabor, on Wednesday, August 13, 2008, that his brother
was sick, and that he was taken to a native doctor?s place somewhere in Agbor.
He then instructed Mrs. Irabor to take the sick man home, and that he would
call his father to join them and look for a good hospital for his son. It was
that same day that he was taken to Owa
Alero General Hospital
where his wife, Mrs. Caroline Irabor, used to work as a pharmacist. At about
4:00pm, she called Barry to tell him that the Doctor said his parents should
leave the hospital because of the noise they were making.
At
about 12 midnight, Barry spoke with his brother on phone for about 20 minutes.
In the Morning of 14 August, the sick man was moved to another hospital, rather
than the Central Hospital, Agbor where he Barry gave
instructions that his brother should be taken to. The address of the private
hospital was not known to him, neither was it disclosed the deceased father
even when he tried to get it from the wife. It was when she realized that the
brother-in-law was not happy at the turn of events that she decided to take the
man to the Central
Hospital, Agbor. But
according to Barry, she called him to say that the vehicle in which his brother
was being conveyed to the hospital got stuck in the mud, and could not move. At
about 3:00pm that same day, when he called his brother?s wife to know the
situation of things, that was when he was told that his brother was already
dead. He immediately came to Agbor, to see things for himself. After his
encounter with the woman, the hospital at Owa Alero, and Agbor, and also with
the police, he went back to his base in Jaji.
Some
time later, the family was advised to settle the matter amicably among
themselves. But some how, when the wife began to make efforts to bury the late
husband without the consent of the Irabor?s family, problem ensued. The father
of the late man, Mr. Eugene Irabor, was summoned to the Dein?s Palace for
deliberations. Unfortunately, the deliberation was not a successful one, as Mr.
Eugene later stopped visiting the palace.
According
to Barry Irabor, he received a call while still in Jaji on February 17, 2009,
that his brother?s wife was planning to bury him. That was when he quickly
called the police in Agbor, to restrain the wife from burying late brother. On
Friday, February 20, he came back to Agbor to see the level of compliance to
the order he gave. That same Friday, a grave had already been dug in the late
man?s compound. A casket had also been bought for the burial. When Barry got to
the hospital mortuary, his brother?s corpse had already been washed and dressed
for burial and a vehicle was waiting to convey the corpse home. But the
mortuary attendants were then ordered to take the corpse back to the mortuary.
Back at the family home, the casket that was brought for burial was returned.
The grave that was dug, also for the burial was covered.
When
Ika Weekly visited the mortuary attendant at Central Hospital,
Agbor, he confirmed that the corpse of late Mr. Jerry Irabor has been deposited
back in the mortuary, because an injunction was given to him, not to release
the corpse for burial. Attempts to get more facts from him proved abortive
since, according to him, he is not a member of the family, and did not have
much to say about the recent development.
When
Ika Weekly visited the home of the deceased man, to get the wife?s own side of
the story our reporters were directed to a provision store very close to the house.
But efforts to get the woman?s side of the story also did not yield much. She
told Ika Weekly that she has left the corpse of her husband for his brothers to
bury, and that she tried so much to bring the family together, and did not
deserve to be so humiliated. Also sitting in front of the store with Mrs.
Irabor were some ladies, one of whom told Ika Weekly that some sacrifices had
to be made before the grave could be covered without the corpse in it.
As at the time of filing this report, the corpse of late Mr. Jerry
Irabor is still being kept in the mortuary, waiting for the day when a final
decision will be made to bury it, a decision which no one knows when it will be
taken.
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