Ezeonwuka Renews Call For Decongestion Of Mortuaries In Southeast
Chief Rommy Ezeonwuka, the Chairman of Ogilisi Igbo Foundation, an Igbo sociocultural group has called on the governors of Southeast states to initiate a policy that will decongest mortuaries in their various states.
Ezeonwuka, who made the call in his April message on Wednesday, frowned at what he called the celebration of dead bodies in Igbo land.
He described the preservation of dead bodies which had led to congestion of both public and private morgues in Igbo land as alien to the culture of the people and Unchristian.
He said as the people prepared for Easter , they should reflect on the Bible story of death and burial of Jesus Christ and imbibe the attitude of timely burial of the dead for them to continue their journey in the great beyond.
He said people could differ in funeral rites and ceremony if they wished but burial should be as soon as the deceased died.
According to him, preserving dead bodies is not our culture in Igbo land, it is not our culture .
“In the past when somebody died they are buried within 24 hours, members of the family can stay with it for their relatives like father, son or inlaws in case of a woman to come and sight it and they must bury the corpse before noon.
“There were no mortuaries business then but now families allow their dead to lie like wood in the morgue for over a year. What is the joy in holding voters hostage when their spirit is gone ?
“Check the Bible, when Jesus Christ died, Joseph of Aramathia pleaded that he should be given the body to bury and that was how He continued his journey and returned on the third day .
“So, I am calling on governors in Southeast to come up with a programme for evaluation of mortuaries in Igbo land within six months.
“They should announce that families should identify the bodies of their loved ones and take them for burial, those that are not identified should be given mass burial under relevant laws,” he said
Ezeonwuka who went spiritual said freeing Igbo land from the large number of unburied corpses was capable of reducing the rate of crime, moral decay and declining values.
According to him, Angels are clean spirits, they don’t have business with unclean things, the Bible described corpses as unclean, see (Numbers 19:11), so you can not expect progress where people fondle corpses.
