The President General of Nnewi Town Union, Nzuko Ora Nnewi, Chief Ugochukwu Udemezue, has attributed the death of Debe Ojukwu, the first son of late Biafran warlord, late Dim Chukwuemeka, to disease associated with high blood sugar.

He described the death as a rude shock saying that the community had been thrown into mourning since the break of the news on the internet.

Confirming the death to journalists on Saturday, Udemezue said that late Ojukwu’s first son had confided in some of his kinsmen earlier in the week that he was battling with “high blood sugar” disease.

His words: “My heart is broken and the people of Nnewi, too. Yes, he is dead, he died on Friday.

“He spoke with some people on Monday and Tuesday where he complained of high blood sugar. When the time comes for his burial, everybody will be fully involved because he is our son, Umudim and indeed the entire Nnewi would miss Debe and would all be involved during his burial.”

Calls to Emeka Ojukwu Jnr. for further confirmation of the story were unanswered but when contacted on the telephone, Ojukwu’s widow, Ambassador Bianca Ojukwu, declined commenting on the matter saying that it was not her role to make announcements about dead persons in the Ojukwu family.

But when further pressured that as a stepmother of Debe, she was at a vantage position about such issues, she said: “Nnewi people had their customs and tradition.

“According to our tradition, it is not my role to make such announcements. We have elders in the family who have such duties and functions. It’s not part of my duties.”

Debe, who was said to be begotten by Ojukwu in1958, had had a running battle of his paternity as he was treated as an outsider. For example, during the burial of his late father in 2011 at Nnewi, some family members prevented him playing any active role in the funeral at the family compound. He was forced to relocate to a nearby space from the family house to host his visitors.

When Ojukwu’s Will was read in 2012, Debe’s name was not mentioned in the document, a situation the late Debe challenged in court, describing the Will as a concocted document.

Describing himself as the “clone” of Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu, Debe at several times called for a DNA test to confirm his paternity and end the whole controversy.

He said: “If they claim I am not his child, then the correct test to determine all that is a DNA. This is not something anybody can wish away.

“That I was barred from performing ‘dust-to-dust’ during my father’s burial was discriminatory and it is against Section 42 of the Nigerian Constitution, which says that no child should be discriminated against on the basis of circumstance of birth.

“For anyone to go a mile extra to say my name is not in the Will is not something that will go unchallenged.”

Debe had described himself as a firm believer of truth, noting that if one errs and recognise the fact that he/she erred and you are ready to show remorse, there is no reason why forgiveness should not come.

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