Press Release 24th August 2022.
The global movement and noble family of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) under the command and leadership of Mazi Nnamdi Okwuchukwu KANU wish to announce to all Biafrans, friends of Biafra and lovers of Biafra freedom that it is high time Biafrans start burying our dead within three days as it was in ancient times. IPOB has gone too deep in the spiritual and finds out that keeping our dead ones for so long is contributing to the major problems of Ndigbo in this present time.
Our ancestors were burying their dead ones within three days and that is our culture and it helped our ancestors spiritually. Igbos have a very rich and spiritually based culture which our ancestors maintained from the beginning of time. The present habit of keeping dead bodies for more than three days and even months and years in the mortuary has had dire effects on our land and contributed to the spiritual weakness of the Igbo Nation and of the entire Biafraland, moral decadence and all manner of evil that have taken root in our land. Now that IPOB has come to realise that this alien practice of keeping the dead on land rather than committed to mother earth has had a very negative impact on our people and upon our land. It has therefore become very imperative to urge our people to revert to the old practices that have a very positive effect on our well-being both spiritually and otherwise.
After some thorough investigation, we have come to realise that all the reasons given by our people which cause the unnecessary delay in burying our dead within a short period are neither cogent nor important enough. These reasons are all man-made mostly monetary conditions from the bereaved families, traditional rites, churches and Umunna. Some of these reasons were self-imposed while others are just to punish the dead families and make money from the dead. We, therefore, beg our people, religious leaders, traditional rulers and mostly the Umunna both men and women to stop tasking bereaved families as a condition before they are allowed to commit their departed loved one to mother earth. Some of our people have turned burial into a carnival and asking families to pay levies or debt for their dead ones is an abomination and must be stopped forthwith.
As it was in past, bereaved families should be allowed to commit their dead ones to mother earth while a date for the burial ceremony is fixed for a later date as well as whatever levies that need to be collected. But using reasons of non-payment of burial levies to stockpile dead bodies in the mortuaries is what IPOB don’t want again in our territory. Our people should revert to our old healthy tradition of burying the dead and do the needful at specific times within their reach.
IPOB will engage Church Leaders, Town Unions Traditional Rulers and Umunna in this regard. We are advising them to prepare their minds for this clarion call because IPOB will develop a strategy of curtailing the excessive use of mortuary in our Region. This strategy may include compelling the shut down of so many mortuaries littered all over our land. The only dead bodies that can be allowed to stay longer in the mortuary are those in court or under police investigation.
Keeping dead ones so long without putting them into the mother earth is a problem to the lives of Ndigbo both home and abroad including our progress in life.
Igbos are shrinking in life because we dishonour the dead by keeping dead bodies in mortuaries for too long than necessary in these mortuaries. Any nation, tribe or family that keeps the dead without putting the corpse into the dust is causing a disservice to themselves.
IPOB has gone too far in our work to restore our dear Nation of Biafra and we cannot lose the opportunity because of unburied people littered in various mortuaries. Some corpses have been left in the mortuary for one, two and three years because of self-gratification, levies or bills from families, churches and Umunnas. We are advising the families, Church Authorities and Umunna to reverse this unhealthy and wicked trend before IPOB begins to implement this new policy. The unburied have turned into zombies and have negative consequences on our peace and survival as a Nation.
The most disturbing aspect of this practice of keeping dead bodies in mortuaries that is our people who died in other parts of the country even outside the country are brought down to Biafraland and deposited in a mortuary for months and years before burial. Alaigbo has been turned into a gigantic mortuary where dead bodies are dumped with the accompanying dire consequences to our land and this attitude and practice must stop forthwith.
Owners of mortuaries on our land must start planning for another business. We are not against those engaged in the mortuary business but we are against keeping dead ones longer than necessary because we are planning to march and we cannot keep dead bodies unburied before we match.
IPOB is encouraging our people on the need to accord respect to our departed beloved ones by burying them immediately. In the olden days, our ancestors embalmed the dead in the house and bury within three days. Ndigbo were not cowards and lazy but today our land is devastated and destroyed completely by unknown gunmen and IPOB will not allow that to continue.
God Almighty Chukwu Okike Abiama bless and protect Biafrans.
COMRADE EMMA POWERFUL MEDIA AND PUBLICITY SECRETARY FOR IPOB.
