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From Stanley Uzoaru, Owerri
Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) has directed people in the South East to bury their dead within three.
It warned mortuaries in the South East to abide by the directive even as it proposed shutting down morgues in the zone.
IPOB spokesperson, Emma Powerful, in a statement, attributed the problems facing Igbo in recent times to the long period spent before burying their loved ones.
He said IPOB has viewed spiritually the problems of Igbo and discovered it was caused by the norm. He said the new practice negates the ancient culture of Igbo where their dead were buried within three days.
“Our ancestors were burying their dead ones within three days and that is our culture and it helped our ancestors spiritually. The Igbo have very rich and spiritually based culture which our ancestors maintained from the beginning of time.
“The present habit of keeping dead bodies more than three days and even months and years in the mortuary has had dire effects on our land and contributed to the spiritual weakness of Igbo nation and of the entire Biafraland, moral decadence and all manner of evils that have taken root in our land.
“Now that IPOB has come to realise that this alien practice of keeping the dead on land rather than committed to mother earth has had a very negative impact on our people and upon our land. It has, therefore, become very imperative to urge our people to revert to the old practices that has very positive effect upon our well-being, both spiritually and otherwise.
“After investigation, we have come to the realisation that all the reasons given by our people which cause the unnecessary delay in burying our dead within a short period are neither cogent nor important enough.
“These reasons are all man-made mostly monetary conditions from the bereaved families, traditional rites, churches and Umunna. Some of these reasons were self-imposed while others are just to punish the diseased’s families and make money from the dead.
“We, therefore, beg our people, religious leaders, traditional rulers and mostly the Umunna. both men and women. to stop tasking bereaved’s families as a condition before they are allowed to commit their departed loved ones to mother earth. Some of our people have turned burial to a carnival and asking families to pay levies or debt for their dead families. This is an abomination and must be stopped forthwith.
“As it was in the past, bereaved’s families should be allowed to commit their dead to mother earth while a date for the burial ceremony is fixed for a later date as well as whatever levies that need to be collected.
“But using reasons of non-payment of burial levies to stockpile dead bodies in the mortuaries is what IPOB don’t want again in our territory. Our people should revert to our old healthy tradition of burying the dead and do the needful at specific times within their reach,” he said.
However, the group vowed to engage church leaders, town unions and traditional rulers and Umunna on the issue.
“We are advising them to prepare their minds on this clarion call because IPOB will develop strategy of curtailing the excessive use of mortuary in our region. This strategy may include compelling the shut down of so many mortuaries littered all over our land. The only dead bodies that can be allowed to stay longer in the mortuary are those in the court or under police investigation.
“The Igbo are shrinking in life because we dishonour the dead by keeping dead bodies in mortuaries for too long than necessary. Any nation, tribe or family that keeps the dead without putting the corpse into the dust is causing a disservice to themselves.
“IPOB has gone too far in our work to restore our dear nation of Biafra and we cannot lose the opportunity because of unburied people littered in various mortuaries…”
