Igbos do not preserve dead bodies, says cultural group

“So, I am calling on governors in South-East to come up with a programme for evaluation of mortuaries in Igboland within six months,” said Mr Ezeonwuka.

News Agency of Nigeria • April 3, 2026

Burial ceremony used to illustrate the story Photo: NKENNE]

Rommy Ezeonwuka, the chairman of Ogilisi Igbo Foundation, a sociocultural group, says preserving dead bodies is unchristian and alien to Igbo culture.

Mr Ezeonwuka, speaking with journalists in Awka on Thursday, urged people to stop what he called the celebration of dead bodies in Igboland.

Mr Ezeonwuka called on South-East state governors to take measures to decongest mortuaries in their various states. He said preserving dead bodies had led to the congestion of both public and private morgues in Igboland.

Mr Ezeonwuka said that as people prepare for Easter, they should reflect on the Bible story of Jesus Christ’s death and burial and adopt the practice of timely burial of the dead to allow them to continue their eternal journeys.

He said people could defer the funeral ceremony if they wished but interment should occur as soon as the person died. According to him, preserving dead bodies is not our culture in Igboland, it is alien to us.

“In the past when somebody died, they are buried within 24 hours. Members of the family can stay with it for their relatives like father, son or inlaws in case of a woman to come and sight it and they must bury the corpse before noon.

“There was no mortuary business then but now families allow their dead to lie like wood in the morgue for over a year. What is the joy in holding corpses hostage when their spirit is gone? Check the Bible, when Jesus Christ died, Joseph of Aramathia pleaded that he should be given the body to bury and that was how he continued his journey and returned on the third day.

“So, I am calling on governors in South-East to come up with a programme for evaluation of mortuaries in Igbo land within six months. They should announce that families should identify the bodies of their loved ones and take them for burial, those that are not identified should be given mass burial under relevant laws,” he said

Mr Ezeonwuka, who went spiritual, said freeing Igbo land from the large number of unburied corpses was capable of reducing the rate of crime, moral decay and declining values.

(NAN)

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