Your Lordship,
I bring you Calvary Greetings in the name of our Lord Jesus, and our Blessed Virgin Maria. I write in my capacity as Imo State Chairman, Guild of Newspaper Reporters, Imo-GNR, a well-known and recognised media Association for all newspaper reporters in Imo State.
Desecration of a well-known communicant, Late Chief Ifeanyichukwu Amuchienwa, and brazen injustice against his Widow, Barr. Mrs. Ogechi Amuchienwa, have compelled me to seek your priestly intervention and assistance in a distressing matter against a member of the Catholic community.
Barr. Mrs. Ogechi Amuchienwa has been seeking justice and closure regarding the exhumation and whereabouts of her husband’s corpse. Her efforts have received resistance and lack of cooperation from relevant authorities and personalities, particularly from the Traditional Ruler of her Community, Ishi Ubomiri, HRH Eze George Ekeh.
As a respected leader in our faith community, we kindly request your intervention in this matter. Your voice and influence can help bring attention to this issue and ensure that Mrs. Amuchienwa receives the support and justice she deserves.
Your priestly intervention and assistance are needed over the purported controversial exhumation of an exemplary communicant, a top devoted Catholic in his days, late Chief Ifeanyichukwu Donatus Amuchienwa, who was given full Catholic burial rites as recommended by both his St Louis Catholic Church Kano Parish Priest, Rev. Father Alexander Shukau, and Amauburu Parish in Ishi Ubomiri by Rev. Father Alex Okoro, due to his clean, impressive, and unquestionable record in the church.
Mrs. Amuchienwa has been seeking justice and closure regarding the exhumation and whereabouts of her husband’s corpse. Despite her efforts, she has been met with resistance and lack of cooperation from relevant authorities.
I believe that every human life has dignity and worth, and it is our collective responsibility to ensure that the rights of the living and the deceased are respected. I humbly appeal that you:
- Meet with Mrs. Amuchienwa to hear her story and offer guidance
- Use your good office to ensure that those who desecrated this exemplary communicant and disrespected the holy Catholic Church are held accountable
- Intervene with your influence to facilitate dialogue with relevant authorities
- Provide spiritual support to Mrs. Amuchienwa and her family
The deceased suffered kidney failure for two years before his death; his body stayed over 5 months in the mortuary before the burial date was fixed on 17th October. All the discussion and agitation at the Palace of HRH Eze George Ekeh of Ishi Ubomiri, Amauburu Parish, and at Tiger Base when the separated wife of the deceased dragged Barr. Mrs. Ogechi, the legitimate wife, Amuchienwa Family Head, Pastor Goddy Amuchienwa, and Abayomi Okechukwu Amuchienwa, first son of the deceased, to police centered on change of burial date because their prominence was given to the burial of an in-law at Mbieri whose burial date clashed with that of the deceased.
Your Lordship, there was no issue or allegation of stabbing the deceased in all the meetings held before his burial. The bone of contention was the change in burial date. It was reportedly said that his separated wife of over 32 years, and her children, Charles and Otitodilichukwu Amuchienwa, purportedly did not care for the deceased when he was alive and on sick bed due to kidney failure; she also said in a recorded voice note that her children and herself were not interested in his burial.
Surprisingly, the separated wife of over 32 years, who is also a Catholic, suddenly rushed to court four days before burial to frustrate and stop the burial with an order that came by 3:45 pm while the burial ended by 1:30 pm; her move was in total disrespect of the approval of the Catholic Church for full Catholic burial.
It is unfortunate that he was exhumed in a “commando manner” in the midnight of 23rd December, 2025, in consideration of an ex parte order granted to the over 32 years separated wife of the deceased, Chinyere Igwegbe, and the venue of the corpse buried by the Catholic Church remains unknown till date.
The exhumation, ordered by the Acting Chief Judge of Imo State, Justice Ijeoma Agugua, at the request of Chinyere Igwegbe, after good recommendation from his St Louis Kano Parish Priest, Father Alexander Shukau, to his Amauburu Parish Priest, Rev. Father Alex Okoro, is seen as a clear affront to the Catholic Church for a worthy communicant, whose burial was approved and presided over by the Catholic Church.
His exhumation was in a manner that disregarded the sanctity of the Catholic Church and dignity of the deceased, without notification, regard for the feelings and rights of the legitimate wife, Barr. Mrs. Ogechi Henrietta Amuchienwa, her children, and first son of the deceased that buried his father.
Our Lordship, we are looking up to you for fatherly intervention to address this insult against the Catholic Church. Please intervene in this matter because the deceased enjoyed full Catholic burial; the church should not remain silent on this disrespectful action; there is need for urgent intervention against this desecration to ensure that those responsible are held accountable.
Most Catholics are shocked that Chinyere Igwegbe, who has been reportedly separated from the deceased for over 32 years, would seek to undermine the legitimacy of the Catholic marriage between the deceased and Barr. Mrs. Ogechi Amuchienwa.
The letter from the parish priest in Kano, Rev. Father Alex Shukau, confirms that the deceased was a dedicated and committed Catholic, and his burial was conducted according to Catholic rites.
We urge Your Lordship to take cognizance of the fact that the exhumation was carried out without the consent of the legitimate wife, her children, and his first son, Aboyomi Amuchienwa, who was actively present to bury his father; her action was a clear attempt to undermine the Catholic Church’s authority.
The alleged actions of Chinyere Igwegbe and her purported accomplices are in blatant disregard for the Catholic Church; we request that Your Lordship ensures that the Catholic Church’s position is upheld, and that the exhumed corpse is reburied according to Catholic rites and traditions.
We are confident that Your Lordship will take the necessary steps to address this issue and ensure that justice is served. We look forward to your prompt response and action on this matter.
Yours faithfully,
Evangelist Chuks Nwokeji,
Imo State Chair,
Guild of Newspaper Reporters
