Tension In Umuchu Town Over Mysterious Death Of Ousted Uchu Deity Chief Priest, Chimezie Muotolo 

KINGSLEY EBERE 

There is tension in Umuchu town, Aguata Local Government area of Anambra State, following the mysterious death of the ousted Uchu Deity Chief priest, Chimezie Muotolo, who suddenly slumped and later died in a suspicious manner on 3rd August, 2024.

P.M.EXPRESS reports that the embattled late Chief Priest, Muotolo, fell down while he was receiving a phone call and was rushed to the hospital, where he eventually died.

The manner of his death triggered shock, anger and suspicion between the two villages, Ibughubu and Ugwuakwu and indeed the whole of Umuchu town over what happened a month before late Muotolo slumped and died.

According to some of the indigenes, a family in Ugwuakwu village, which is supposed to be serving the Uchu Diety as Chief Priest, abandoned it for several years and claimed that they were ‘born again’ and therefore, will not worship idol.

However, the late Chimezie Muotolo, who was a native doctor, took the responsibility and started serving the Diety as the Chief Priest. It was said to be successful and worshippers started coming to the Diety for sacrifices to the extent that the worshippers were presenting different gifts including cows, goats, fowls, yams and cash gifts running into millions of Naira.

It was also gathered that the efficacy of the activities of the Diety spread like wild fire and many started coming for worship. The place got a huge boost after a man based abroad offered and built a storey building to the Deity and many worshippers were coming from outside the State to worship the Deity with different gifts. Many Umuchu indigenes also abandoned their churches and became Uchu worshippers.

The said family in Ugwuakwu, which originally supposed to provide the Chief Priest position for the Deity, realized that it was their inheritance and were losing huge sums of money by abandoning the  Diety over the years for church. They then decided to have a change of mind and come back to serve the Deity.

The family was said to have appointed one of their members to be the new Chief Priest without first informing the late Muotolo as they locked the shrine and suspended him from performing normal rituals.

Since then, the deceased Chimezie stayed away and has been silent over what happened until his death was announced by his family, which brought the corpse and buried.

The bone of contention now is what happened to the late Muotolo that led to his death. Many believed from his village, Ibughubu, that he was treated badly by the Ugwuakwu family after serving the Diety for several years and he might have caused his death.

Before he was buried, there was no autopsy test or report to reveal what actually killed him because according to his family,  he was healthy before he answered the call, slumped and died.

Some of the indigenes said that there is every need to nip the suspicion in the bud to avoid creating enmity between the two villages, Ugwuakwu and Ibughubu and also discourage people from giving different interpretations over his death, which could trigger crises in the town.