By PAMELA EBOH, Awka

Another property feud is brewing in Nibo, Awka South Local Government Area of Anambra State as three sisters have seized the corpse of their deceased brother whose name was simply given as Ernest.

It was gathered that the sisters who are said to reside and operate a prayer ministry in same Nibo community have seized the corpse of their brother for five years because of his properties.

Information has it that the sisters seized the entire property of the late brother and denied his wife and children access to them, since 2019 when the deceased died after a protracted illness following an auto accident

Recounting their ordeal at the State Ministry of Women Affairs and Social Welfare in Awka, where the matter was reported, the wife and the only surviving son of the deceased said they were also denied access to him when he was still alive and critically ill, saying that the sisters allegedly took him away to the area where they have their prayer centre.

They lamented that since Ernest’s death, they have made effort to see and bury his corpse to no avail.

According to them, the three sisters seized everything, including his corpse and property, denying them access to them.

Corroborating the story, a younger brother of the deceased recounted how the three sisters have been a thorn in the flesh of the family members and anyone who dared to correct or oppose them and their atrocities.

While saying that two of the sisters are already married and one not, he stressed that her married sisters would always come from their husbands’ houses and team up with the unmarried one to control or interfere in the affairs of the family, which, he said made them to be notorious for their troublesome lifestyle.

He added: “It go to the point that three of them were suspended by the kindred and the Ụmụada.”

When interrogated, one of the three sisters who gave her name as Mrs. Augustina, claimed that the corpse and the property of their late brother wee held by them because he was not in good terms with the wife and children when he was alive, hence their decision to deny them access to his corpse and property.

The State Commissioner for Women Affairs and Social Welfare, Mrs. Ify Obinabo, in her reaction directed the three sisters to hand over their brother’s corpse and allow the son of the deceased to have full control of his father’s corpse and property, so that he would be buried.

She further warned against meddlesomeness of some people who interfere in marital and private lives of their relatives or seize someone’s corpse and property when he/she dies.

She added: “Anyone found wanting or violating any law of the state will be made to face the law. Governor Chukwuma Soludo’s government has zero tolerance for lawlessness in the state.”

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