Today Post I want to share with you guys is something that happened around 1992 in Ibadan. Oyo state, Nigeria. As at that time, i was in Primary 4. The news was more popular among the western part of Nigeria. The post might sound quite funny since you were not there to experience the event but during that Year, it wasn't funny. It was the talk of the year in our Nigeria broadcasting Channels (National Television Authority "N. T. A") and also in the radio stations as at that time.
The event took place in Ibadan. A very wealthy couple about to be wedded, were planning for there Marriage. They moved from place to place, buying stuffs for the preparations of there wedding ceremony. It was now time for the "D-day". The bride and groom successfully got wedded in Baptist Church. It was time for the reception, during the "cutting of the cake 🎂 , " the lady slumped and died.
She was rushed to the hospital, the Doctor confirmed her dead. The husband refused to accept such news from the Doctor, they rushed her to another hospital, the second Doctor Also confirmed her dead.
So, out of the frustration from brides and groom's family, they decided to bury her that same day with her wedding gown and also owing to the fact that in some states in Nigeria, people who died at a very young age are buried immediately compared to the elderly ones who lived for a very long time. Since, the bride was a jewelry freak, her parents threw all the brides jewelries, even her husband also through the ones he bought for her as part of her wedding gift into the grave and she was buried with it at the Baptist Church cementary.
But as the saying goes :
Among every twelve, there is always a judas
Little did the family and loved ones of the deceased know that, among the people who witnessed the burial, there were others in there midst, who had bad intentions for the gold jewelries buried along side with there daughter. In the early hours of the morning, around 1am that same day, this grave thieves came with a pickup van and a ladder to the Baptist Church cementary. According to the news, they were four of them.
They dug up her grave and threw the ladder down, to make it easy for them to climb down the grave. The Depth was more than 6ft and the space of the grave was wider in order to accommodate all her jewelries. Two were down the grave to gather the jewelries and pass it to the one at the middle of the ladder, while the guy at the middle of the ladder pass it to the guy at the top of the grave. The one at the top of the grave was responsible for taking the jewelries to the pickup van they came with. They succeeded in doing what they came for. But greed crept in when they realised that the casket was even more expensive than even the jewelries they had already collected.
While the one at the top of the grave site was trying hurry them up, begging them that what they have already is enough for four of them, that they should forget about the casket, the three left started calling him "chicken hearted". He decided to prove his bravery by staying with them till the end. One of them chose to cover her face with a piece of clothes, while they struggle to remove the late bride from her casket. They manage to bring her out of the grave to the top, so it would be much easier to carry the casket. While the four men were struggling to bring out the casket, the guy at the top, notice her hand moved, he was shocked but wasn't quite sure of what he saw, he had to drag her a bit further away from the grave to be sure he isn't seeing thing's while he went back to assist his friends again to carry the heavy casket. For the second time, the hands of the late bride moved again, he told his friends what he just saw, they were so angry with him, telling him,
if he doesn't want to assist them, he should get out of there.
The third time, the bride who was supposed to be dead, "sneezed". This time the four of them heard it, you can imagine the run🏃 🏃 🏃 🏃 of there life... The one at the top had already reached the van in a split second, the one at the ladder was faster than "Tom and Jerry". The two inside the grave were now the one struggling to climb the ladder. Meanwhile, she was trying to call to there attention begging them to "help her". The more they heard her voice, the more they were begging for there lives inside the grave that
they were not the one who killed her
they succeeded in climbing the ladder and took of.. There friends had already left them.
The bride in question, managed with the little strength she had to walk up to the house of the resident pastor of Baptist Church to ask for help. Since she was a member of the church, it was quite easy finding her way around the church premises to the pastor's house.
Around pass 3am, the pastor was wondering who was banging his door, crying for help.. As usual, he suspected a member of his church. Only for him to open the door to see the bride in mud at his door step, he shouted
Jesus!!!!
banged the door and ran to meet his wife in the bedroom... Shaking!!! He explained to his wife what he had seen in the door step... The bride kept crying and asking why they are afraid of her and was begging for just water to drink, that she's dehydrated and very weak. The pastor finally summoned couraged, picked up his Bible and holy water to chase her away, if at all, she's a spirit. He opened the door and started praying and poured her the holy water, it wasn't having any effect, he ran back to his room again to meet his wife. The lady was still busy crying out side for just a cup of water to drink. The pastor finally opened the door for her to come in, gave her water, food and she had her bath. The pastor now explained the event that had happened earlier during the wedding. But the pastor was shocked, how she managed get out from the grave. So, she explained she woke up at the cemetery and noticed people running away from her. Immediately, the pastor understood they were thieves and immediately hurried to the grave site and noticed all the jewelries were missing.
The sunday morning was the thanksgiving service of the brides burial in the church. Everyone was still in a mourning mood. The pastor found it very hard to tell people that she was still alive, so he called just her parents and the groom to his house to explained what have happened. The parents were scared seeing her at First but got to find out she's actually not a spirit but the husband refused to marry her again. The bride's house became like a tourist site for the people of Ibadan and press men and
women. Everybody wanted to see the bride who died and came back to life.
- The husband refusal to marry his wife again was what sparked the debate in the nation wide news as at 1992. The question of the day was, "if you were in his shoes, will you accept your wife back, who was presume to be dead".
- Secondly, one of the thieves came forward to confess everything that had happened and told his own part of his story to "Sunday newsline" and brought back his own share of the gold he collected. He was apprehended by the police.
- Thirdly, members of the bride's family, the bride herself, people in Ibadan all came out carrying placards for the release of the criminal the police arrested. He was released, he repented and was made a worker in the Baptist Church. The bride in question became a very strong and dedicated Christian. That was actually the last I heard from that news.
Interesting
This is a really touching story and perfectly written.
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Thank you very much @sbamsoneu for writing this story and submitting it to SWC. That's good the family of the bride recognized that even the thief did a bad thing, he saved her at the end. I sent 12 STEEM directly to your account for your participation in the contest.
Thank you so much Sir... I really appreciate it.