Herbert Wigwe: "I spilt on your grave...but not all redeemers..."

I'm writing a follow-up to my piece from yesterday, "City of David, the Wigwes, and the Iluyomades." You may assume I am exaggerating the situation, but I am not. I'm doing this because I received a call from a high-ranking member of the Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG), City of David. He called in response to the article, expressing his own opinions and clarifying the points raised.

I've opted to keep his identity unknown to avoid exposing him to the wrath of a few people who see nothing wrong with Mrs. Iluyomade's grandiose "balling" one week after Herbert Wigwe, his wife, his son, and a friend were killed in a helicopter crash in the United States.

My caller, whom I know, began by stating, "I spit on your grave!" I assumed he was unhappy with me for the article I wrote and wanted to tell me off. Many people had contacted me to support my ideas, and only a few had made disparaging remarks.

When I received his call and heard that line, my adrenaline spiked, and I was ready to 'give it back to him.' However, because I recognised him and he is a well-known senior citizen and accomplished individual, I calmed down. Fortunately, he intended well. He was angry. He was bitter. He was crestfallen. However, he chose his words wisely.

Why did he call me? "I contacted you because that party just told Herbert, 'I spit on your grave. The party was dreadful. It was really horrible. "It was unconscionable," he told me.

He was especially concerned that the redeem family had been unfairly portrayed. So he contacted me to get this cleaned up.

In the article, I urged the church to redeem itself by sanctioning Pastor Iluyomade and his partying wife and regaining the trust of people who believe it is actually the Redeemed Christian Church of God.

"Not all redeem people sanctioned that party," he told me. "It may interest you to know that members of the church objected to the celebration after receiving reminders of Herbert's death. Despite the fact that the party had been planned long before Herbert's death, we decided to postpone it to allow for adequate mourning time. Many notable worshippers at the City of David who were invited declined to go because it was inappropriate. Respected persons from the City of David did not attend. As a result, it was not supported by many parishioners, and the entire redeem family should not be held accountable for the pastor and his wife's indiscretion," he concluded.

My caller was bitter, and he said it in no uncertain terms. He challenged those who attended the celebration to "put themselves in the shoes of the Wigwes and their dead friends." He stated that if they had done so, they might have realised that what they were saying to Herbert was, "I spit on your grave."

He viewed Herbert as a diligent and passionate parishioner who influenced many lives and institutions on Victoria Island, Lagos, and beyond. When I asked him if he thought the party continued on to prevent Siju from losing the money she had promised to the event planners and singers like Flavour, he said, "What is money?" Flavour posed the question in his smash tune, 'Agba Baller.' What amount of money cannot they sacrifice for Herbert, who has made numerous contributions to the church and their lives? "Do you know that if they had approached Eko Hotels and asked for postponement, they would have easily done that for Herbert?"

At this time, he grew emotional. He claimed to have spent the entire day yesterday reflecting on Herbert's death and found himself soliloquizing and asking, "Herbert, is this how you died?"

He finished by informing me that "people read the Bible, preach it, but are not rational and reasonable" in carrying out the teachings of that Holy Book.

"Fred, I am extremely bitter!" Is that how Herbert died? Is this now how the world works? Herbert died, and those who gained the most from him were unable to mourn him.

I'm sure, like my caller, many redeemers are mourning him. Non-redeemers are mourning him. The Access family is in grief. Friends and family are mourning him.

Madaeme De Stael, a notable woman of letters and political thinker in both Parisian and Genevan intellectual circles, and the daughter of financier and French finance minister Jacques Necker and Suzanne Curchod, once said, "We understand death only after it has placed its hands on someone we love."

Let those who loved Wigwe continue to grieve him and pray for the repose of his soul, as well as the souls of the faithful deceased.

Meanwhile, Herbert Wigwe, wife, and son's funeral services have been arranged for March 4-10, 2024. 

By Fred Chukwuelobe