Clement Nnachi, Abakaliki

A man identified as Ifeanyi Nwafor 29, slumped and died as he was digging the grave of a dead elderly woman in the village.

He reportedly died inside the grave he was digging.

The incident occurred in Onunwankwo village, Umuhuali community in Ishielu Local Government Area of Ebonyi State.

Narrating the incident to journalists, a member of the Youth Assembly in the area, Mr. Nonso Ekuma, said the deceased young man hailed from Azuegu village and participated in all the burial activities of the deceased woman, Madam Alioke Mgbanya.

Ekuma said, “At dawn, Ifeanyi Nwafor participated in the digging of the grave for the burial of the old woman, and that was where he met his death.

“Nwafor had participated in the drinking episode of the wake keep till dawn, when they began to prepare the grave before the arrival of the Parish priest to bury the dead woman.

“When Nwafor got into the grave with a digger, he dug two times and on the third round could not bring down the digger, but slumped and died inside the grave.”

Ekuma said all the efforts of sympathisers — including warming his feet with fire to see if he could be revived — proved abortive.

Nwafor has since been buried in his own grave on Saturday at the Azuegu village Umuhuali, Ekuma said.

An eye witness who preferred anonymity said Nwafor was a driver, and he was survived by a wife and two children.

Efforts to reach the Ebonyi State Police Public Relations Officer, DSP Jude Madu, for confirmation was not successful as his telephone lines were not reachable.