We’re shocked seeing father’s corpse fresh 41 years after-children

By Tola Gbadamosi
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It was an unusual scene. The crowd surged uncontrolably to catch a glimpse at what many onlookers regarded as a mystery . It was not a scene that could be hidden. It was  the fresh corpse  of a man, Mr. Aiku Boboye.He was buried 41 years ago at Alafiatayo street, along hospital road, Akure.

 Some undertakers  who opened the grave found the dead body of late Boboye still fresh with the clothes  used to rap him intact. He was exhumed, due to the ongoing construction of the Hospital/Ijoka road, Akure.

Late Boboye was described by his children as a very straight forward man who was very diligent in all his ways.

 They further said their father was a loving man that was why he had lots of wives and children.

 They said during his lifetime, cocoa farming was the major business  of getting rich, and their father had a large cocoa farms with several plots of land and was able to take good care of his large family.

It was also learnt that he had many houses in Akure as his cocoa farm was booming at that time.

 He was survived by 29 children and nine wives whom he took very good care of during his lifetime.

 Speaking with a 53-year-old Mrs Florence Alabi who is the 20th child of late Boboye, she said she did not understand the whole thing.

 According to her, the family called on undertakers to move their father’s corpse that was buried 41 years ago at the age of 70, affirming that  their expectation was to meet skeleton but surprisingly, their father’s corpse was still intact and fresh as ever.

“This beat my imagination, the very moment his body was carried out, his hands dangled away from his body. At that moment I shouted and fell to cry. “This occurence is still a shock to me, Baba was a very strict man, that we knew him for. He never changed his words”, she said.

 Also speaking with The Hope was Mrs Florence Kayode who is the 14th child of the deceased. She said” I have never seen this kind of a thing before in my life. My father that was long dead did not decay but still fresh like he was asleep.

 ” I am kind of proud of him because of this, during his life time, he was a very tough man. He handled everybody equally.

“There was never a time we experienced disagreement in the family, no mater how large we were at that time. We were all going to farm and living happily”.

Mrs Alice Monday who did not really know her age but a nonagenerian and the 11th child said  “we the seniors never went to school. But Baba made sure we got everything we needed. Baba had one of the biggest farms in Akure where we all worked and had our own shares”.

 An old tenant who live in the building for six months but did not want his name mentioned said “when I first came to Akure, I asked someone to get a house for me because I didn’t know anybody in town. That house was the first house I lived in. My experience in that house was not pleasant after paying for a year I left after six months.

“Because the house was very close to the road, at night any vehicle that pass by will always wake one up.

“I hardly had a good night rest. Although when I got the apartment, I was not told that anybody was buried in the house. But I was having some dreams. The nightmares made me to move out of the house.

“I was a young bachelor then so, moving out was very easy for me.

“There was a time that the family brought a dead body to be buried there and that was what actually made me to finally leave the house.

“A trader who have his business in the building said he knew his office was on top of a tomb but it did not make any difference to him.

 “His business was doing on well until there was notice of relocation. I have never had any cause to regret staying in the building.

 In a similar case which occurred some years back with Blessed Cyprian Michael Iwene Tansi who died January20, 1964 and in March 22, 1998 after  exhumes his corpse, it  was found still fresh.

 At that time Pope John Paul 11 made him Blessed.

It was learnt that in a Catholic Church setting, if late Aiku Boboye was a member before his death. The Vatican would have subjected his corpse to investigation or analysis on how he lived his life.

Seeing such, the Pope may make him Blessed of which thereafter be made a Saint. Because such this life this do not just happen but for special persons.

 The corpse has however been re-buried.