A 25-year-old man who recently wedded his 17-year-old sister in Agba village, Ekwulobia in Aguata local government area of Anambra State has quit the union.
Chiadikobi Ezeibekwe, a Mathematics teacher in Community Secondary School, Isuofia, also in Aguata and the sixth of 10 children (eight boys and two girls) had earlier made the news for his bizarre marriage to his own sister, a student of the Federal Government Technical College, Awka in February this year.
The marriage between two blood relatives born of the same parents seen as incestuous had caused uproar in the village, though Chiadikobi and his sister claimed that they received the vision from God.
After undue criticisms and pressures, the man has come out to renounce the union. Speaking with Sunday Sun at the Community Secondary School, Isuofia in Aguata, he declared that the marriage was no more as it stands dissolved.
This is coming after Ekwulobia community and the Parish Priest of St. Joseph’s Catholic Church, Ekwulobia, Rev. Fr. Igunatus Onwuatuegwu have fixed March 24, for the formal dissolution of the marriage and cleansing of the land according to the church tradition.
Chiadikobi announced, “The marriage is dissolved. We are not talking about that marriage again. Let’s see what the future holds, even the Bible said we should not worry for tomorrow as tomorrow would take care of itself.
He justified his action by quoting from the book of Deuteronomy to illustrate that siblings could marry each other saying that, “One advantage of this is that such marriage discourages divorce. It also retains family values and norms.
“I don’t feel guilty; I don’t feel ashamed; I don’t feel intimidated in any way. Only God can stop us. They said they would do cleansing to stop us, but I will only listen to the voice of God,” he had said.
But Chiadikobi has now changed his position, according to Punch, citing pressure from his community.
He said, “We have decided to dissolve that marriage because of pressure from our community. So, that marriage is no longer an issue. It’s now in the past.
“I learnt that they have arranged a Reverend Father to do what they called cleansing. They have contacted us, and we have assured them that we shall make ourselves available for the exercise.
“I will be there and the entire family will be there. But that is not to say that I will join their church. I won’t do that and our family won’t. We can’t go back to Egypt.
“I’m a Sabbath and, searching through the scriptures, I discovered that one could marry his sibling. So, we went ahead with the arrangement to marry my younger sister.
“The marriage ceremony was observed inside our family compound, which also serves as a place of worship for us. My immediate elder brother, Paul Ezeibekwe, the pastor, was present during the ceremony.”
“However, since we took that decision, the whole community rose against it.”
The wedding was said to be conducted by Chiadikobi’s elder brother, Chijioke Ezeibekwe, who is the priest of Dwelling Fullness of God Church, Agba.
The youth of the village had set ablaze the church in February24, 2018, Dwelling Fullness of God Church, where the wedding was conducted.
Nkeiruka Nwide, the Anambra State Police Public Relations Officer, said she heard the story “unofficially.”
Confirming the story, Gabriel Ezeukwu, the traditional prime minister of Ekwulobia, said, “Agba village youths, who saw the marriage as an abomination, set ablaze the church where the wedding took place.
“I restrained them from further action against the man and his family. If it were in the past, the entire family would be burnt down because this is a grave abomination and sin.”
The eldest son of the family, Emeka Ezeibekwe, vowed to resist their union.
He said, “It’s over my dead body that they will call themselves husband and wife. It can’t happen.”
