Against all negative predictions, the burial of the late parents of leader of Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, ended peacefully in Umuahia yesterday without any incident.

His Royal Majesty, Eze Israel Okwu Kanu, the Egwu Ukwu II of Afara Ukwu Ibeku Kingdom, Umuahia, and his wife, Ugoeze Salome Nmeme Okwu Kanu, were buried amidst fanfare in their Isiama Afara Ukwu palace in Umuahia, Abia State, Friday.

Throughout the ceremonies which commenced at about 9a.m. when their remains were taken from Madonna Catholic Hospital Mortuary on Aba Road, Umuahia, and their motorcade hit the headquarters of Umuahia North Local Government Area at about 10a.m. culminating in the funeral church service and final interment, no security situation was recorded.

Umuahia stood still for the couple as their long motorcade and overwhelming hordes of youths accompanying them attracted a large crowd at Umuahia North headquarters.

The remains of the couple who died in August and December respectively were also received atAfara-Ukwu Square, Orie Ogwu, the ancestral headquarters of Afara-Ukwu kingdom, and at the Isiama Afara Civic Centre, after a brief lying-in-state at their palace before it was brought to St Andrew’s Anglican Church, Isiama Afara for a two-hour funeral service.

Bishop of Umuahia Diocese, Rt. Rev. Geoffrey Obijuru Ibeabuchi, leading several other officiating Ministers, in his homily, urged the living to lead righteous lives that would qualify them to go to heaven when the die.

Drawing the theme of his sermon from Ecclesiastics 9:6-7: “The dead knows nothing,” Bishop Ibeabuchi enjoined the living to mend their ways, lead decent lives and have good relationship with God, such that when the die, they would find favour with their maker.

Senator Enyinnaya Abaribe, in a brief remark, lamented the deaths of the couple almost simultaneously and prayed for eternal repose of their souls, adding that though they have died, they would continue to be remembered by their legacies. He commended all who graced the event for their peaceful conduct.

In the family’s funeral oration rendered by the second son of the deceased, Kingsley Kanu, they described their parents as upright and impeccable, pacesetters, humble, principled, exemplary, adored and respected by those who came into contact with them.

Kingsley said their parents “never made a fortune or noise,” despite their unique position of leadership in the community, church or state, adding: “You never compromised the truth; you never stole, your conscience couldn’t be purchased.”

“Government came and went; you never wavered in your principled stance to defend the truth at all times, even at a great personal cost,” he added.

Kingsley maintained that the greatest achievement of their fallen parents was the sowing of “seed of universal freedom for our dear nation Biafra,” promising that the seed would flourish.

“In future, when history looks back at the times and lives of Papa and Daada, it will record that their union in life, as in death, was ordained by heaven to usher in an era of freedom not limited to Biafra alone but will extend to the whole of black Africa, even beyond.

“In that respect, they remain immortals to every generation that will ever walk this sacred land of Biafra. That is their greatest legacy, that is their gift to our nation and one which God purposed for them,” Kingsley emphasised.

He said posterity would remember their parents for the seed of light they planted in Nigeria. “What they accomplished in life, from this compound and in this village, will echo throughout history,” he said.

2019 Vice Presidential Candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and a former Governor of Anambra State, Mr Peter Obi, and Senator Victor Umeh, were among dignitaries who graced the church service.

• PHOTO: Caskets of Eze Israel Okwu Kanu and wife, Ugoeze Salome Nmeme Okwu Kanu, during Friday’s funeral service at St Andrew’s Anglican Church, Isiama Afara, Umuahia