Nwobodo boycotts son’s burial

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Jim Nwobodo
Jim Nwobodo

Former Governor of old Anambra State, Jim Nwobodo, made good his threat not to participate in the burial of first son, Ifeanyi, who was buried on Tuesday.

Nwobodo had said last week that he was through with the burial after it was scuttled on December 5 by his other children.

Nwobodo’s wife, Patricia was also not at the burial, which held at their hometown, Amechi Awkunanaw in Enugu South council , amidst tight security.

The corpse of the late Ifeanyichukwu was buried inside the compound of his late Uncle, John Nwobodo, which shares the same fence, with that of Jim Nwobodo.

Dignitaries who witnessed the burial included Governor Sullivan Chime of Enugu State who was represented by his Deputy, Raphael Ifeanyichukwu Nwoye, two former governorship aspirants, Ugochukwu Agbala and Valentine Nnaedozie and a former Commissioner, John Egbo.

Jim Nwobodo’s former wife, Mukosolu Nonyelu, mother of the late Ifeanyi and three others-Chukwudi, Uso and Ifeoma- were also at the burial.

Delivering a sermon during the funeral mass at St. Mathew’s Anglican Church Amechi Awkunanaw, Archbishop Enugu Ecclesiastical Province of the Anglican Communion, Rt. Rev Dr Emmanuel Chukwuma preached for peace, saying he did not come to de-stabilize the family but to unite them.

Chukwuma said he did not fix the burial but the family, adding that they invited him to participate. He said he had two other engagements but shifted them to allow him participate in Ifeanyi’s burial.

“Nwobodo reported me to the Primate. This text in my phone was forwarded to me by the primate. The person that sent the text to the Primate is the Igwe. The primate now forwarded it to me. I told him the true situation of things and he said we should go ahead with the burial.

“I told the Primate that when he (Nwobodo) has disowned his son, that the church has adopted him. Ifeanyi bought this pulpit on which I am preaching. This boy has suffered because of his father. It is because of his father that he resigned as commissioner.

Chukwuma consoled all the members of the family, telling them that “man can reject man, but God does not reject his children.”

Speaking with journalists after the burial, a member of the family and an Area Administrator, Chris Nnamani said “what happened today was the decision of the entire community.

“What brought the controversy was that his father tried to shift the burial of his son outside his compound. We have never seen a thing like this before. All the members of the family met and took a decision.

“We conveyed the decision of the family to Jim Nwobodo. He said we should give him time to take a decision. He called back and told the family that his decision is final.

“So, the family contacted other kindred and they supported the family. And that was the major issue in the matter. We are not interested at looking at issues he (Nwobodo) raised in the media but our concern is to make sure that Ifeanyi is buried” Nnamani said.

On why the family chose John Nwobodo, for the burial, the family member explained that both Jim and his late elder brother lived in one compound until someone demarcated it

Efforts to speak with Nwobodo as at press time yielded abortive as his phone was switched off.

Nwobodo had last week disowned his children from his former wife for hijacking the corpse of their brother from the mortuary to scuttle his burial on December 5, saying their action did not show that they were his flesh and blood.

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