Twenty-five-years old Mr. Cornelius Chiadi Ezeibekwe, from Ekwulobia town in Aguata Local Government Area, Anambra State has become the buzz of the moment following his wedding to his younger sister, aged 17 years.
The youth of the community who couldn’t comprehend the taboo burnt down the Sabbath Church where the two were joined as husband and wife. Chiadi who is the sixth of the 10 children of Mr. Louis Ezeibekwe, is a Mathematics teacher at Community Secondary School, Isuofia, also in Aguata local government area.
When Saturday Telegraph visited the home of the newly wedded couple at Agba village, Ekwulobia, Chiadi was seen busy marking examination scripts in a tension free environment while his wife remained indoor throughout our correspondent’s visit to the couple. According to Chiadi, his sister and wife was a student of Federal Government Technical College, GTC, Awka, but had to leave school sometime ago to enable her observe Sabbath rites known as ‘Shimta’. “It was during the observation, which lasts for one year that the marriage took place.
In that period of ‘Shimta’, she must remain in the compound for one year. It was further learnt that Chiadi’s sister had already left school because of the controversy generated by her marriage to her elder brother.
On the reasons why he married his sister, Chiadi said: “I am a Sabbath and when I searched through the scriptures, I discovered that Bible permits marriage between a brother and a sister. So, I went ahead with the arrangement to marry my younger sister.
“The marriage ceremony was observed in our family compound, which also serves as a place of worship for us. My immediate elder brother, Paul Ezeibekwe, the pastor, was present during the ceremony.
“What happened was that when we decided to get married, we told our parents our intention and my father asked us if we knew what we were about to do. I told him that we searched through the scriptures and that God sanctioned it. It was after this that our parents consented.
“However, our other relations objected to the idea when they learnt of the plan and when we ignored them and went ahead with the marriage, they and other villagers burnt the Sabbath Church where we used to worship because they thought it was in that place that we worship, not knowing that we had since abandoned the place and are worshipping in our compound.
The burning of the church does not mean anything to us. “God told me to marry my sister and she also saw the same vision I saw earlier. There are places in the Bible that support such marriage. Those in doubt should read Songs of Solomon Chapters 4 and 5 and 1st Corinthians Chapter 7. “Since we took this decision, I have not felt anything unusual, or felt that I did anything wrong. In the school where I teach, many people asked me about it and I boldly refered them to the Bible.
“One of the reasons for marrying my sister is to avoid divorce which is rampant these days because even if we divorce each other, we will remain in the same family. Besides, by marrying one’s sibling, there will not be the possibility of introducing ugly situations, like diseases or social vices into the family. “
However, their 78 years frail looking father, appeared not to be in total control of the behaviour of his children, His eldest son, Emeka, who is a member of the Winners’ Church and resides in Port Harcourt, condemned the marriage, saying it was a taboo. He said: “I cannot support evil no matter how it is painted.”
Though the family was originally Catholics, they later changed to Seventh Day Adventist Church before switching to their own brand of Sabbath worship, with one of the children of Louis Ezeibekwe, Paul, as the pastor.
The issue drew the attention of some elders of the community a they immediately went to the traditional prime minister of Ekwulobia, Chief Gabriel Ezeukwu to lodge a complaint following the absence of the traditional ruler of the area, Igwe Emmanuel Onyeneke, who is currently out of the country. Following consultations with other elders in the community, Ezeukwu ordered that the marriage be dissolved and a cleansing of the community of the bad omen be done to avert any calamity.
Culled from Here
