In a powerful spiritual appeal, the revered Igbo spiritual leader Ogilisi Igbo has called on Igbos and Christian communities across Nigeria to immediately bury corpses languishing in mortuaries—some for years—warning that their continued preservation is a spiritual affront inviting violence, insecurity, and divine retribution.
Speaking in a phone interview with The Crest Intl, Ogilisi lamented what he described as a cultural shift toward “commercializing death,” with families keeping corpses in mortuaries for extended periods under the pretext of preparing elaborate “befitting burials.”
“Igbos are not cowards. We never feared death. Traditionally, we buried our dead without delay,” he said. “Now, mortuaries have become places of spiritual incarceration. This practice has provoked the angels, and their presence has left us. Demons now roam free.”
According to Ogilisi, the surge in violent crime, cultism, and spiritual confusion in Igbo communities can be traced to the restlessness of souls—deceased individuals whose bodies remain unburied, leaving their spirits unable to return to the Creator.
He urged families to return to the culture of timely, dignified burials, warning that until the dead are laid to rest, Igboland will continue to face a spiritual crisis fueling insecurity across southeastern Nigeria.
