A Non-Governmental Organisation in Akwa Ibom State has decried the attitude of most bereaved families keeping corpses for years without burial on the basis of financial constraints.
Addressing the press in Uyo on Monday, the President/Founder of Open Forum, Matthew Koffi Okono, advocated enactment of law to end the existing traditional practices on bordering on excessive burial rites where corpses are kept for years without interment.
Recall that recently, the Supreme Patriarch of the Ibibio people of Akwa Ibom State, Oku Ibom Ibibio Solomon Daniel Etuk, had waged a silent war against prolonged embalmment of corpses due to the worrisome financial constraints to hold burials.
Etuk, therefore, warned bereaved families to desist from such acts, attributing this to the growing trend of delaying burials, particularly in the rural areas, which has raised serious detrimental issues.
In support of the campaign, the Open Forum President noted, ‘‘Members of Akwa Ibom Traditional Rulers Council have a responsibility to amend the existing traditional practices on burial rites. There are situations where high demands are placed on the before wives (loved ones) are buried. Akwa Ibom burial system can be enacted to make burials cost expensive.’’
Okono called on Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) and Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria (PFN) to wade into the burial rites to halt the practice of putting corpses in the mortuaries for years.
According to him, there is need for individuals, Churches and families to be brother’s keepers to one another in rallying round bereaved families to check abandonment of corpses in the mortuaries for years.
Okono said there are corpses in the mortuaries waiting for burial for 10 years or more.
He cited the case of the 71-year-old Mrs Alice Gregory Okon, who died in 2017 and was kept in the mortuary for eight by the bereaved family.
The Open Forum chief said one of the daughters brought the case of the dead from Eniong Offot in Uyo to the attention of the Open Forum and the body made several appeals to individuals and government officials for financial assistance.
He commended Mr. Enobong Uwah, the Secretary to State Government for rendering financial assistance to the bereaved family for the eventual burial of the corpse on April 30, 2025.
‘‘Let Akwa Ibom Government also enact a law stipulating traditional marriage rites in view of the harsh economic condition in the state.
Benue State, for example, makes minimal conditions for marriage. I think Akwa Ibom Stet can emulate by reducing the high bride price to enable many people to marry to curb social issues in the society.’’
On the location Ibom Deep Seaport, he raised concerns of some of the stakeholders of the projects after the host communities globally hence the naming of Apapa Wharf, Tin Can Island, Lekki Seaport, among others, suggesting that the port should be named after the host community in the state.
The Open Forum President, however, called on the state government to set up a technical committee to named the location of the seaport in view of the controversy surrounding the naming.
Commenting on the concerns raised by the investor who acquired Quality Ceramics in Itu, he lamented that the investor was passing through tough time in that most of his facilities had been vandalized.
Okono, therefore, called on the state government to resolve the impasse between the investors’ company and AKICORPS to enable to investor take full possession of the company to recoup his investment.
