This incident has raised questions and fueled speculation about the circumstances surrounding Senator Ubah’s death.
By Saidu Idris
365Daily – Barely 24 hours after his sudden demise in London, a circulating video has sparked widespread speculation and concern about the actual cause of Sen. Ifeanyi Ubah’s death.
The Senator, a prominent businessman and politician representing Anambra South Senatorial district, had traveled to London on July 25, 2024, only to pass away two days later. His death comes amidst his rumored candidacy for the Anambra State gubernatorial election next year.
Tongues have began to wag regarding the circumstances surrounding the sudden death.
This followed the surfacing of a video, allegedly said to have taken place at a public event two weeks ago, wherein a highly placed Anambra-born multi-billionaire ‘forcefully’ snatched the late Senator Ubah’s traditional staff of office, Ofo’ in the public glare witnessed by Governor Chukwuma Soludo of Anambra state. The businessman is a known promoter of Governor Soludo’s quest for a second term in office.
The ofo holds significant cultural and symbolic meaning in Igbo cosmology, representing authority and personal chi (god).
According to High Chief Uche Onyeke, a custodian of culture in Opi community, Nsukka council area of Enugu State, Ofo is a “mystical symbol of truth, purity, justice and authority with a spiritual dimension attached to it.”
Onyeke, who teaches at the Institute of Management and Technology, IMT, Enugu, said ,”Ofo, a revered ancient institution in traditional Igbo land, is the highest principle of justice, law and morality, binding both the living and the supernatural powers of the gods and the ancestors.”
In the currently trending video, the billionaire business magnate had approached a table where the late Ubah was seated, with Governor Soludo to his right.
After what looked like a playful warning, through the wagging of his forefinger, the late Ubah rose to shake hands with the business mogul, who ignored the outstretched hand, and instead brought out his own ofo – a gesture which the late Senator reciprocated by bringing out his own, for the traditional greeting of Igbo titled men.
However, in a curious twist, never before seen in Igboland, the businessman forcefully snatched the Nnewi-born politician’s ofo and proceeded to spray the object with a curious substance.
A visibly distressed Ubah was later seen being consoled by Governor Soludo, while the businessman remains unemotional.
This incident has raised questions and fueled speculation about the circumstances surrounding Senator Ubah’s death.