Died wretched, given lavish burial

From Rose Ejembi

For over 40 years, Gwayem Charles Ajaver, alias Charlie Orioo, walked the streets of Katsina-Ala town, in Kastina-Ala Local Government Area of Benue State, almost naked and as a mentally ill person.

Despite his mental illness, which made him not to aquire any formal education or get married and, at some point, even left him crippled as a result of an accident, he was reputed to be a very kind, easygoing and jovial person.

This endeared him to many residents of Katsina-Ala, especially around the motor park area, where he was said to have lived all his life before his death a few weeks ago after an illness.

And his calm behaviour earned him a befitting burial as had never been witnessed before for someone of his status, when some members of the Katsina-Ala community decided to celebrate him even in death.

Charlie Orioo’s wake and burial, which held in a grand style in Katsina-Ala and his village, were attended by prominent personalities in the area, including the council chairman of Katsina-Ala, traditional rulers and the divisional police officer of Katsina-Ala, among others.

Speaking to our correspondent on telephone, the chief mourner at the burial, Mr. Shom Gema Orshitile, alias Enjoyment, threw more light on who Charlie Orioo was and why he decided to honour a mad man in death.

Enjoyment, who noted that the Charlie Orioo was his kinsman from Shitile, but not from the same village, said the deceased was from Mbacher council ward, while he was from Imachin council ward, of the same local government area.

Charlie Orioo, it was gathered, hailed from Chali Market, Mbaagyo Mbajibo, Mbacher council ward of Katsina-Ala Local Government Area of Benue State.

“We came from the same clan in Katsina-Ala LGA, the same state constituency; we are from the same Shitile. You know, Katsina-Ala comprises Shitile and Tongo. So, we are from Shitile, which is Katsina-Ala East state constituency.

“While the late Charlie Orioo was from Mbacher council ward, I am from Imachin council ward of the same local government area,” Enjoyment said.

It was further gathered that his parents, who are now late, had two other children, a policeman, who died a year ago, and the only female, who is said to be in the village.

“He lost his parents a long time ago and was the only male child of his parents until his death. He had a brother who was a policeman but was killed last year along Katsina-Ala/Zaki Biam highway by bandits. He had a sister who is in the village.”

The chief mourner, who disclosed that he had known the deceased for more than 25 years, said he got endeared to him after he noticed his simple and amiable lifestyle.

“He used to come to where we used to stay out and join us there to make merry. He was such a jovial and harmless person, which made him very popular in Katsina-Ala town. It was such that nobody would come to Katsina-Ala town and stay for three days that would not know him. Despite the fact that he was crippled and always crawling around the town.

“He was not born crippled. What happened was that, about four years ago here in Katsina-Ala, he was knocked down in the night by a hit-and-run driver, which made him paralyzed.”

Reliving what led to his death, Enjoyment said: “A few days before his death, I discovered he was not lively as he used to be. Everything in him just changed and, shortly after, I did not see him where we always met.

“So, I arranged for some boys to help me look for him. That was around Saturday. Some boys went round in search of him but they didn’t see him, not knowing that he was sick and this made him not to move around as he used to.

“On Monday, somebody who knew I was looking for him called me that he sighted him (mad man) at a thatched house and asked me to come and see him. When I got there I discovered he was seriously sick. So, I called a tricyclist, popularly known as ‘Keke Napep’ and two boys helped me carry him into the Keke and I took him to the hospital.

“There is a man who works with College of Education, Katsina-Ala, who also comes from the same council ward with Charlie Orioo. I had to intimate him of his ill health and steps I had taken to take him to the hospital.

“At the hospital, I explained the whole thing to the doctor who asked that some tests should be carried out on him like typhoid fever, malaria and hepatitis and all were negative, but he looked pale and the medical doctor said they should buy some drugs and that he should be given drips. It was in the process of administering this that he gave up.”

Enjoyment said, as soon as Charlie died, he quickly called the lecturer who was his kinsman to inform him of the development.

Commenting on why Charlie Orioo was given a lavish burial, Enjoyment said he decided to do that as a mark of honour to someone who, although they were not actually related, saw him all his life as his brother. 

“When he died, I thought that, because of his status as a nobody, he should not just be thrown away like that. I said to myself that I had to do something for him because he had been with us, very jovial and harmless. I thought that there must be something we should do to give him his last respects.

“That was how I started the move and met with people, went back to the village and explained how I took him to the hospital and how he died and told them that we should give him a grand burial; and when they fixed a date for the burial, they got back to me.”

He added that some people and groups like the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW), where Charlie Orioo normally slept, also contributed some money towards the burial.

“So, I continued to contact people who contributed money, too, including the chairman of the local government and many others.

“It was actually a grand burial given to him because more than 10 vehicles accompanied the ambulance that conveyed his corpse to the village.

“As I was organising it from my own side, the NURTW were also arranging for the burial on their side. For instance, the drinks and food people ate at the burial were sponsored by one engineer.

“Many people attended the burial, including the local government chairman, who also attended the Christian wake. Traditional rulers, representative of Igbo community, the divisional police officer of Katsina-Ala and many others attended both the wake and burial.

“When the Katsina-Ala DPO was giving his oration at the burial, he said that he didn’t expect to see the kind of burial they gave to Charlie because of his status and charged people at the burial to learn a lesson from it,” Enjoyment said.