The leadership of St. John’s
Anglican Church, Agbarho in Ughelli North Local Government Area of Delta
State was thrown into confusion when the church vicar, scheduled to lead a team
of ministers at a funeral service, suddenly died after he was rushed to hospital.
Venerable Stephen Eseteru Ogue, JP,
53, author of several Christian books, including ‘Escathology: The rapture of
the Saints’, ‘Foundation for marital bliss’ and ‘The potential power of the
Holy Spirit’, died at about 7.45 a.m. on Friday, December 11, 2015, two
hours before he was billed to officiate at a funeral service. Until his
sudden death of cardiac arrest at Lily Hospital, Deco Road, Warri, the Anglican
venerable, according to his first daughter, Oghenenyoreme Ogue, was suffering
from diabetes and high blood pressure.
The hearse conveying the remains of
the woman whose burial the pastor was supposed to preside at, mourners,
including a large delegation of the church’s Women Guild as well as members of
the Anglican Fasting and Prayer Society, had gathered in front of the church
building as early as 9.25 a.m. for the service billed for 10.00 a.m.
Unaware of the tragedy that had
occurred, the mourners, who had been warned the previous night against lateness
to the funeral service, waited patiently for the officiating ministers to
receive the body at the West Door (entrance of the church) in accordance with
Anglican doctrine but no pastor was in sight. Meanwhile, other members of the
church and visitors kept trooping into the church premises for the funeral
service.
Worried by the development, members
of the mourning family began to call the vicar’s phone line and a voice
answering to urge them to be patient. The calls to Reverend Friday Erutere,
billed to assist the venerable at the funeral service, were initially ignored
until he answered to similarly sue for patience, saying he was on his way to
the church.
Eventually, 60 minutes after the
scheduled time of service, Erutere, accompanied by two others, arrived at the
West Door to officially receive the corpse and proceeded with the funeral
service.
Despite the commencement of
proceedings, anxiety was still palpable as church members continued to ask
after the whereabouts of the venerable, which had, on several occasions,
enjoined members of the Women’s Guild to be punctual for that particular
service and had promised to lead the church delegation to Okpara Inland for the
interment. Nobody was providing answers to questions. Not even his assistant
who, some observed later, appeared agitated and confused to the extent that,
for the first time in a funeral service, there was no communion and there was
no offertory. By far, the most worrisome was the treatment accorded the
National President of the Christian Association of Nigeria, CAN, Pastor Ayo
Oritsejafor, who took time off his church’s three -day crusade at the
Warri Township Stadium, as a mark of honour for the fallen mother.
As the mourners departed the church
for Okpara Inland, venue of the interment, there was no word about the sudden
death of the vicar of the Agbarho church where another Anglican canon, Rev.
Benedict Akpoguma, took over proceedings. Put simply, neither the
mourners nor well wishers, who had travelled from long distances, including Mr.
John Salubi of the NNPC, Dr. Francis Eghwubare of Delta State University, Mr.
Joshua Onoronimighwu of Central Bank of Nigeria, Mr. Victor Onogagamue of Delta
State Sports Commission, Barrister Joseph Ogedegbe, and a former NBA
Chairman of Ughelli Local Government, were briefed on the reason for the
funeral’s delay.
When a Vanguard correspondent visited the home of the
vicar, the wife [Felicia] was lying on the bed despondent with a few church
members shielding her and making sure her health condition did not degenerate.
Only the first daughter, Oghenenyoreme, could volunteer comments, although, she
was unable to explain the mystery behind the death of her father, as,
according to her, they had prayed
together that morning in accordance with family tradition, without any visible
signs of danger, and the ebullient father retired to the couch in the sitting
room apparently to relax.
“After a while, I noticed that daddy
was no longer breathing normally and I raised the alarm to draw my mum’s
attention. She quickly called the driver and we carried him to the car and
drove straight to the hospital in Warri. That is all I can tell you, because
nobody told us anything about his state of health until the bishop came later
that day to break the sad news to us,” she tearfully narrated.
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