Israel Umoh
Life is a test. Life is a trust. Life is temporary – Anonymous
It was a Black day. And grieving, indeed. A day torrent of tears welled in the eyes of most attendees. It was one funeral service the family of the late Chief Etokabasi Udom from Ikot Etim in Ukanafun Local Government Area could not cry enough for their dead son. And Àkwa Ibom State Police Command felt more the loss of a resilient but gallant officer.
The day of grief fell on July 24, 2026. It was the funeral service in honour of Ubong Udom, Superintendent of Police, whose life was cut short in an auto crash.
As part of the passage rites, the family had organised Friends Night for the departed. Relations, friends, colleagues, in-laws, kinsmen and neighbours had gathered at Jackville Events Centre, Ewet Housing Estate, Uyo. Armed with candle lights, the attendees sang, listened to tributes and watched as others fluted.
Ubong’s senior brother, Ediong, who flew in with wife from London could not hold his tears. Emem, the member representing Ukanafun State Constituency in the Àkwa Ibom State House of Assembly, was getting teary during the event. The event held on Wednesday, July 22, ended on a sorrowful note as people wore mournful looks back home.
No one except Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NiMET) had predicted drizzle in the morning and dull weather towards evening in Àkwa Ibom on Friday. But, between Wednesday and Thursday last week, rain fell intermittently and holed up many. So, some of us who are not climatologists expected another wet day. In the morning, the sky was cloudy and started shedding droplets of ‘tears.’ A convoy of cars lined the route leading to the mortuary of University of Uyo Teaching Hospital, Uyo. Not long, the morticians had dressed the corpse of the 42-year-old police officer and dumped it in a beautifully decorated, brown casket. A white ambulance of Real Brass Band took the lead and the convoy sped off, emptying into the busy Uyo-Abak Road. However, the day was clement devoid of downpour.
Just after Ikot Oku Ikono Flyover, Uyo, the grim picture of the scene where Ubong also known as “Small god” perished Sunday evening, May 3, 2026, gnawed on some people as a bad dream. He was said to have driven into a faulty but parked truck on the road and passed away. A few metres shortly after what could be seen as the “The Scene of Golgotha,” a place the officer died untimely, the convoy pulled up. The casket was taken to the deceased compound off Uyo-Abak Road as a final earthly entrance to his residence.
Thereafter, the long convoy departed his residence and headed to Ikot Etim through Abak and parts of Oruk Anam.
At the intersection between Ikot Okusung-Ikot Akai-Ikot Etim Road by Ikot Ubo-Ekparakwa-Ukanafun-Aba Highway, the convoy pulled up. Other vehicles parted ways and moved to Government Primary School, Ikot Etim, venue of the funeral service, while the police band and some senior police officers disembarked and wheeled the casket to the compound of the late Chief Etokabasi Udom with a palatial one-storey building for lying-in-state.
The primary school was tastefully designed and aesthetically decorated. Framed pictures of the deceased were displayed at every corner. Covered seats ranging from white, green and yellow colours filled the various tents. A standby band set blaring religious songs enlivened the grief-stricken atmosphere.
Shortly, a large crowd accompanied the Police band set that rendered sullen tunes to the venue for the funeral. The ambulance sneaked in and other cars followed as six policemen who escorted the casket from the deceased family to the pitch pulled it out and moved a neatly dressed table.
No sooner had the people and guests taken their seats than a tall policeman walked to the podium and presided over the solemn service by introducing their formalities for their colleague who died in active service.
As he called sailors of police flag, sword, a pair of shoes and cap of the deceased, he explained their significance. The officers armed with the items marched majestically to tent glittering with decorative lights and placed the items on the casket and walked away.
After the formalities, the General Superintendent of Qua Iboe Church Nigeria, Rev. Ekpedeme Effanga offered the opening prayers. The service began in earnest with a hymn on the lyrics:
Fading away like the stars of the morning
Losing their light in the glorious sun
This we pass from the earth and it’s toiling, Only remembered by what we have done.”
The atmosphere was charged as the hymn rolled. Tears gradually rolled down the cheeks of some people.
The Pastor, who preached on the theme: The Permanent is yet to come took his reading from 2 Cor. 2:5, emphasising the need for people to live a righteous life that would help to usher the dead into everlasting home.
The turning point was the return of official pair of shoes, cap and sword of the deceased Superintendent of Police to the nuclear family to the four children and wife. The police flag was given to Ediong, senior brother of the departed, who handed over to a deputy Commissioner for Police for office keeps.
Thereafter, members of the police band, who wore red over black and others, who put on white over black, marched to the casket. As the tune oozed out, the police band filed past the casket and dispersed. Then six policemen carried the casket into the waiting ambulance that drove out slowly to the graveside. The funeral procession escorted the casket for final earth-to-earth rites.
As the procession terminated, the police wheeled the casket into the room of Ubong where his remains were lowered into the lonely grave and covered. So, he returned, as put by the Bible, to the dust.
Social media were saturated with adulations over the stellar qualities of SP Udom.
The member representing Ukanafun/Oruk Anam Federal Constituency, Rep. Unyime idem said he “had the privilege of knowing Ubong beyond public service, as he had worked briefly with him as his employee at Idems Ultimate Limited and Ibom Communications Limited as Customer Care Officer, before answering the noble call to serve our nation in the Nigeria Police Force.
“Ubong was a cheerful, humble, hardworking, and dependable young man. He was friendly, easygoing, always available whenever called upon, and carried out his responsibilities with sincerity and dedication. Those admirable qualities remain etched in my memory.
Although he later pursued his dream of serving in the Nigeria Police Force, where he rose to the rank of Superintendent of Police, he never lost the warmth, simplicity, and kindness that defined his character. He lived an honourable life of service and left a lasting impression on everyone privileged to know him.
“As a devoted husband, loving father, caring brother, loyal friend, and dedicated police officer, Ubong’s untimely passing has created a void that will be deeply felt by his family, community, colleagues, friends, and the many lives he touched.”
Also, Mr. Ita Udom, Commissioner of Police (rtd), wrote in a WhatsApp group “To me personally, I consider this as a very personal loss. Late SP Ubong E. Udom, was an officer, a gentleman and a brother I personally mentored. When he was first introduced to me by my late brother Hon. Nnamso Idiong, I saw a young officer with imbued potentials to climb to the highest pedestal in the NPF.
He was very intelligent, hardworking, resourceful and warm. I saw an officer who at least, would have been a DIG in the service because he was one of the firsts to be promoted among his course mates. These potentials and the grace he carried stood him out and endeared to all his senior and subordinate officers. From that moment we met I made it clear to him that between me and him there’s no superior not subordinate rank difference, that we’re just elder and younger brothers. I counseled him to pursue his career in the Finance Unit and I made everything available for him to achieve this.”
Moreover, Ufok Ibekwe, esq, writing on his Facebook page on the topic: “SUPRO UBONG UDOM’S HOMEGOING: THE Autopsy of a Messianic Cosmos,” said “The world sits devastated. Ukanafun stands in dumbfounded surrender before the tribunal of fate. Our heads are bowed. Our minds are emptied by grief. Every eye searches this casket, interrogating the terrible silence that answers no one. Why does a man with such an iconic cosmos lie here? Why is the Sun summoned while daylight still lingers? Why is a prince recalled before his songs have reached their final chorus? The heavens refuse to answer. Home itself has become unfamiliar. His favourite seat has become an altar of absence. His doorway shall wait for a knock that will never come again. The rooms remember his laughter, but only silence replies.
“Here he lies, one of the finest of human specimens. He lies in the stillness of mortality, yet clothed with the majesty of an immortal testimony. This casket may contain his body, but it cannot imprison the greatness of the life he lived. We gather not merely around a man who has died; we gather around a life that enlarged the lives of others.
“Supro Ubong Udom was more than a man. He was a cosmos clothed in flesh. He lived within a messianic cosmos where greatness was measured not by status but by service, not by wealth but by generosity, not by applause but by unwavering faithfulness to God. Wherever he walked, ordinary ground became sacred through kindness. Broken hearts found healing, discouraged souls found hope, and weary travellers found light. Goodness was not merely what he practised; goodness was the architecture of his soul. He was a radiant Sun whose warmth reached lives he never sought to impress and whose light continues to outlive his earthly journey.
”Death has claimed his body, but it has not conquered his witness. His testimony continues to point beyond time to the eternal Kingdom of Christ. His example still challenges us. His love still comforts us. His light still shines.”
The 42-year-old cop also known as Small god was a holder of Bachelor of Science in Computer Science, a Postgraduate Diploma in Business Administration, a Master of Science degree in Business Administration and Bachelor of Science degree in Accounting.
So, Ukanafun wept over the loss whom Elder Etekamba Udom, founder of Sure Polytechnic, Ikot Akai, claimed Ubong would have become a Deputy Inspector General of Police. The tears could not dry because one good man has been captured by Death- the leveler of mankind.
Goodnight, SUPRO Ubong Udom!
