The family of Late Mrs Comfort Biakpara, the wife of a retired air force officer and elder statesman, Peter Biakpara, in conjunction with her husband’s family, have resolved to constitute a legal case against two of Nigeria’s biggest news outfits, Punch and The Nation Newspapers.
In a statement signed and made public by both families, they described the reports of vital organs missing from the corpse of the deceased at the point of burial as “untrue”.
In a particular reference to Matthew Ochei, the Punch reporter who first reported the story, the families referred to the news as “a figment of the imagination of the reporter.”
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The communique stated that a legal suit would be filed against the person of Matthew Ochei, The Punch and the Nation Newspapers in no distant time.
The statement reads in full;
SETTING THE RECORDS STRAIGHT: RE “COMMUNITY SETS FOR SHOWDOWN WITH HUSBAND AS EYES, TONGUE OF WIFE MISSING “BY MATTHEW OCHEI, CARRIED IN THE PUNCH NEWSPAPERS OF MONDAY 7TH MARCH 2022
The Chief Biakpara Ologbo family of Tamigbe Town, in the Burutu LGA, and the family of Diokpa Harold Ezeamaka of Ubulu Uku of Aniocha South LGA, both in Delta State, are still in shock and very embarrassed by the sensational news story carried in the Metro section of The Punch Newspaper, of Monday 7th March, 2022, credited to one Matthew Ochei, a Punch reporter.
The news story stated the deceased, spouse of, Rt. Hon. Wing Commander PY Biakpara, a retired senior officer of the Nigerian Airforce and an elder statesman, had her eyes, tongue and other body parts missing.
That the heinous act was discovered when she was to be buried at her Ubulu Uku hometown in Delta State. The story is not only ridiculous but absurd. It reflects everything that has gone wrong in our society, which include the reportorial ethics of journalists. Indeed, it made nonsense of the tenets of the journalism profession.
The story is untrue and a figment of the imagination of the reporter. He would be brought to justice in a court of law for slander and defamation, in due course.
His employer The Punch also would be arraigned alongside the reporter, for failure to verify the facts before publishing. The bereaved elder statesman who still mourns the unexpected demise of his beloved wife has been further thrown into trauma, since the unfounded story made appearance at the newsstand.
The story is no longer confined to the Punch, it now trends online and the social media. The Nation Newspaper of 17 March 2022 latched on the spurious story for its editorial, which it captioned with a rider ” Where are the body parts? The burial ceremony of Biakpara became not of mourning but grisly revelation.”
The Nation again did not investigate the story before adapting it for its editorial, considering its magnitude of assumed horror. The damaging opinionated editorial further added salt to an already festering injury.
This also will be litigated. The elder statesman is now constantly inundated with calls from across the country and abroad for the ridiculous story.
The late Mrs. Comfort Biakpara died on 2nd January 2022 at the Federal Medical Centre, Asaba, after child birth. The Biakpara Ologbo family is consoled that the babyboy survived, but the child cannot take the place of his mother who was the source of joy and happiness to her husband. The Lord must however be glorified in all circumstances, He gives and take, no one can question Him.
On the day she passed on, when all hope were lost that she would ever comeback, her family and that of the husband, took the body to the Mortuary, where she was embalmed and kept for preservation, pending when arrangements would be concluded for the burial rites.
The details of arrangements made by both families to ensure their daughter and wife, received a befitting burial is not a subject for review here, but for emphasis, it must be noted that no stone was left unturned.
On the appointed date, the 5th of March, 2022, the Ezeamaka and Biakpara families, went to the Mortuary, to prepare and collect the body. Mr. Paul Ezeamaka and Mr. Chuks Ezeamaka, direct younger brothers of the deceased and other family members were present. Mr. David Biakpara, Barr. Roland Ombe and others, represented the Biakpara family.
The corpse was inspected, bathed and placed in the casket for the final journey to Ubulu Uku her hometown for the funeral service. In all the aforementioned processes, no one from the deceased family, complained, nor raised suspicion, over the purported disappearance of body parts.
The journey was hitch free. The rites of passage began. Mid way in the solemn ceremony, things took a dramatic twist, as Mr. Paul Ezeamaka, brother to the deceased, who was in the team that inspected the corpse at the mortuary, halted the ceremony, alleging that the eyes were missing.
This was alarming, unexpected and quite embarrassing, after all, Paul Ezeamaka, was present at the FMC mortuary Asaba and was privy to all that had transpired. But unknown to everyone, Paul and Chuks, the Ezeamaka siblings, had instigated the youths to block all access points to the funeral arena. Some were carrying firearms, threatening to shoot anyone who attempted to leave the funeral ground.
He opened the casket, and there and then stripped the corpse naked. But the corpse was found to be intact. Despite failing to establish his claim, he still went ahead to say, he can’t find eyes.
The needful must be done to clear every doubt. Right in the arena the FMC Asaba mortician was called on phone. He said the eyes were there, and that they sank slightly into the skull because of the delay in embalming the body. The delay was due to the deceased family’s request, led by her elder brother, Pastor Peter Ezeamaka, who wanted to pray for the deceased to wake up.
A second mortician, a native of Ubulu Uku, was also summoned to inspect the body. After examining the corpse, he confirmed that the eyes were intact, and that no part of the deceased was tampered with. Alhaji Zulu, the Ezeamaka family spokesman, took the microphone and informed the audience that morticians had cleared the air and the funeral service would continue.
The youths continued to be restive because of Paul Ezeamaka’s persistent incitement. When the dust settled a bit, they came up with ridiculous conditions to be met before the deceased can be buried. They wanted the husband’s family to agreed that the eyes were really missing.
They also wanted the unspent burial funds in the custody of Mr. Harold Ezeamaka Jr., the oldest of the siblings, to be handed to Paul Ezeamaka, the deceased immediate younger brother.
It then became apparently very clear that the preposterous allegations of Paul Ezeamaka and his collaborators, was a premeditated gimmick to harass and extort money from the husband of the deceased.
The Biakpara family refused to accept that the eyes were missing, and on the issue of handing over burial funds in the custody of Harold Ezeamaka to Paul Ezeamaka, they also refused to be involved. They said they no longer had control over monies released to Mr. Harold Ezeamaka for the funeral, that whatever was left of the funds, was at his discretion to use as he deemed fit.
As things continue to degenerate, the Ezeamaka family’s spokesman, Alhaji Zulu, who was now very embarrassed and incensed with the actions of Mr. Paul Ezeamaka and the youths, rose to the challenge. He threatened to ask the community elders and guests, to leave the funeral service, since Paul Ezeamaka and his firearms carrying collaborators had brought the funeral to a close. The intervention of Alhaji Zulu restored some sanity. The youths then asked to be given 30 minutes to reach a decision.
Indeed, patience became the watch word. The Biakpara family, village elders and invited guests, all wanted to pay their last respect to the deceased. The 30 minutes wait had not lapsed, when the youths disagreed amongst themselves. They pounced on one another, and it became a total chaos on the funeral ground.
The guests who were held captive all along scampered for cover, many jumped into their cars and fled. The husband’s family seeing the scary scene, also fled. The Ezeamaka family seeing that everyone had left, and were alone with the corpse, chose to lower the casket into the already prepared grave.
This was said to be around 6pm, as reported authoritatively by Alhaji Zulu, Bros Emeka and Professor Mordi and Professor Aloamaka and Dr. R.K Moruku all of the Delta State University.
The questions therein for the reporter and the editor of the Punch Newspaper, are; 1. Who confirmed to him that the deceased, had her eyes, tongue and other body parts removed?
2. Was he present at the funeral, or did he base his report on hearsay?
3. If he was not there, did he call to cross check the story with the Biakpara family for their side of the story?
4. Did the Punch editor, who stands as gatekeeper, as the ethics of journalism demand, call any of the families to verify the facts before hastening to publish?
5. Or was the reporter doing a hatchet job for an interested dubious party? The families of Biakpara and Ezeamaka have met with their lawyers, who are presently studying the sensational story, for grounds of legal action.
Finally, the Biakpara Ologbo extended family of Tamigbe Town in the Burutu LGA, of Delta State, wishes to express our sincere apologise to friends, families and invited guests, far and near, who were at the funeral service to bid our wife, Mrs. Comfort Okwy Biakpara, farewell, for the harrowing experiences they passed through in the hands of Mr. Paul Ezeamaka, Chuks Ezeamaka and the Youths. We are deeply sorry for the pains and embarrassment.
Signed
1. MR. HAROLD EZEAMAKA JR.
2. ALHAJI ZULU KIDI
FOR THE EZEAMAKA FAMILY
3. BARR. ROLANDS OMBE -.
4. DEACON DAVID BIAKPARA
FOR THE BIAKPARA OLOGBO FAMILY
