By: Chioma Madonna Ndukwu
The Movement for the Actualization of the Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB) has urged South-East governors and religious leaders in Nigeria to impose a ban on the preservation of dead bodies in mortuaries across Igboland.
According to the group, this practice is leading to dire spiritual consequences, particularly influencing the youth negatively.
Comrade Uchenna Madu, the leader of MASSOB, warned that “the wandering and restless spirits of unburied dead bodies in mortuaries are continuously possessing the younger people, leading and influencing them into all manners of criminalities, evil and wicked acts.”
He further explained that these spirits have erased “their godly consciences and replaced them with all kinds of immorality, lust for blood shedding, lust for wealth and mundane things.”
MASSOB also highlighted that “the tap root of all criminal tendencies, evil and wicked activities in the lives of the young men and women in our society is the possession and influence of the spirits of unburied dead bodies in mortuaries.”
The group called for a ban on bringing dead bodies into churches, arguing that it “corrupts the holiness of the church” and that “the spirit of a dead person can never rest until it is buried.”
The group emphasized that it is an “abomination in Igbo traditional culture to keep a dead body for more than four Igbo market days,” urging Igbo governors and leaders to take action by banning mortuary businesses in Igboland.
