Noah Ebije, Kaduna
Eighty-year-old Pa Ayuba Akwashiki, who became paralysed after suffering a stroke in 2002, when he lost his job as a textile worker, is now triple heartbroken.
On March 30, this year, he lost his wife, Saraya, who died at the Gwamna Awan General Hospital, Kakuri, Kaduna, after a bout with acute malaria fever. And two weeks after her demise while arrangements were still being made for the burial of the wife, his son, Wilberforce, a pastor, died in a car accident along the Lokoja-Abuja road.
At the burial of the mother and son, which took place the same day, the octogenarian, a native of Nasarawa State, was inconsolable as he wept like a baby. For him it was like the sun had set at noon, leaving him without the comforting presence of his beloved wife. Moreover, it was a painful recall of the death of his first son, 18 years earlier. Now, he has no heir as he had only two sons.
Bed-ridden, the bereaved octogenarian said amid tears that he wished he was being buried by them rather than him burying them.
Pa Akwashiki said: “The death of my wife and my son has worsened my health condition. I can no longer sleep properly and my body has weakened. Their death shocked me beyond words. I have been crying like a baby since the incident happened.
“How I wish they are the ones burying me, instead of me burying them. My son, Wilberforce, was the breadwinner of my family. He was preparing to bury his own mother, and he had accident on his way from Lokoja and died.
“I am helpless because in 2001 I lost my eldest son. I need prayers, I want people of God to pray for me because I am going through the agony of life. I also need regular medical attention which is not forthcoming, except for occasional assistance from Good Samaritans.”
As Sunday Sun learnt that Pastor Wilberforce, upon hearing about the death of his mother, left Lokoja where he worked with a private cement producing company in Kogi State and traveled to Kaduna to make the necessary burial arrangements for his mother.
Having done the burial arrangement, Wilberforce was said to have gone back to Kogi State to formally obtain permission to be away from work, to enable him have enough time for the burial. He was said to have secured the necessary approval from his bosses.
However, Wilberforce did not make it to Kaduna as he was involved in a motor accident on April 17, and died few hours later in the hospital where he was rushed for medical attention. His remains were deposited at Kwali mortuary, Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, where the accident occurred.
On Friday, April 26, sympathisers thronged the family compound along Zico Street, Ungwan Romi area of Kaduna metropolis, for the burial of the mother-and-son.
In a chat with Sunday Sun, the family spokesman, Emmanuel Elijah, who is a primary school teacher in Soba Local Government Area of Kaduna State, expressed worry that his grandfather’s health has deteriorated.
He wondered how the octogenarian would be cared for after the burial ceremony and appealed to the state government to transfer him from Soba to the state capital so that he would be closer to his ailing grandfather.