Tragedy: Billionaire Philanthropist from Aji, Enugu state Parents based in Abuja, two children perish in auto crash

Tears in Enugu. Tears in Abuja. Tragedy comes in different mold. At times, people just wail; at times, they stand arms akimbo, staring at the magnitude of such tragedy; at some other times, people are simply petrified. The tragedy that befell the family of one of the parishoners of the Holy Rosary Catholic, Wuse, Abuja, on January 6, is one tragedy too many. On that day, the devil did its worst, snatching life with reckless abandon, sending a once bubbling family to reclusion; evoking tears, wailing and unparallel sympathy. But, death cannot be reversed. While some people would philosophically ask “death, where is thy sting”, it was not in doubt among the Rosarian family that death indeed has powerful sting and remain one of the most denagerous knell.
What happened sent devastating shock on the parishoners, but, for the Aji, Enugu-Ezike community in Igbo Eze North Local Government Area of Enugu state and the Ogili family in particular, it was indeed a very tragic trying moment. On that day, a once bubbling and promising family of Columbus Chukwudi Ogili, was retarded several decades. Death came, snatching Columbus, his wife and two of their children in a ghastly motor accident somewhere near Abaji in the FCT.
They were returning from Aji Enugu-Ezike from the Christmas and New Year celebration which they capped with lavish house warming, when the tragedy occurred. At the time of filing this report, the Enugu Ezike community resident in the FCT had interred the deceased back at home according to Igbo tradition.
Late Ogili, according to friends, church members and business associates, was a very popular philanthropic business man with chains of businesses within and outside the country. He had the head office of his bubbling business empire in Wuse market, in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT). Now, only providence could determine what becomes of this business empire, since the surviving children are mere kindergarten.
Shortly after the yuletide and lavish parties hosted for various groups in his community, the Ogili decided to return to face the challenges of 2016, not knowing they had just celebrated their last Christmas together. It was learnt that as they journeyed back to Abuja, they decided to divide them¬selves in two: two of the six children joined Columbus and his wife in a vehicle, while the other four children, the apprentices and another family member, a female, who was coming to Abuja joined in the other vehicle on the backward journey. Columbus wife and her children reportedly slept off on the way, while at some point, Columbus, who was experiencing the hangover of the activities back home, started experiencing stress and was battling with heavy dose of sleep which constantly crept in. It was at this point, when the sleep finally dragged him down that he slammed the vehicle he was driving under a broken-down trailer parked beside the expressway, killing the four: father, mother and two children instantly. However, two other children who were together with them in the car, sustained various degrees of injuries and receiving treatment at the National Hospital, Abuja.
The AUTHORITY on Sunday findings showed that by providence, one of the injured children has been dis¬charged from hospital, while the other one is still receiving treatment.
While narrating how the tragic incident happened to our reporters, a close family source said: “After the Christ¬mas and New Year celebrations, we di-vided ourselves into two. Some people were in the bus used for business op-erations which was moved home to assist in household chores, while the late Columbus, his wife and four of their children joined them in his jeep. They left for Abuja before we departed and while on the way back, the deceased Columbus and his wife were constant¬ly calling us to know where we were. When they arrived at Lokoja, they waited for us and even bought some entertainment items from us.
“When they could no longer wait, they left Lokoja before we arrived and as we were coming back and got to Abaji, my brother that was with us in the bus saw a car by the side of the road and alerted us that he saw a car that looked very much like the one late Columbus was driving. We were sur-prised and had to stop. We saw people gathered in the place and were crying. They told us that the car had an ac¬cident and that four of the occupants died instantly.
“We also screamed and told them they were related to us and wailed and wailed but that could not bring them back. We got more worried because we could not trace the hospital where they were rushed to initially until when we got home here in Abuja. It was here we discovered that Road Safety officials that evacuated them to the hospital, used the man’s telephone to call the last numbers he called before the accident. We then saw people already gathered in the house. When one of our uncle who is in town came, he confirmed to us that four occupants of the jeep had died” and that included Columbus, his wife, the first son, an undergraduate and the first daughter, who had just completed her SSCE”.
The sources confirmed that the man had four surviving children. Among the survivors, the most elderly is 14 years old, while the other, a boy is just 11 years old. When we visited the late Columbus main shop in Wuse market, we observed that the shop was still under lock and the man’s business col-leagues were wearing long faces.
One of the close business associates who volunteered to speak with The AUTHORITY on Sunday on condi¬tion of anonymity, expressed grief and shock over the incident.
He disclosed that the Late Columbus went to the village to dedicate his new family residential house. “He even invited me for the dedication of the house. It was just that my schedules were very tight during the festive sea-son, which was why I could not make it. He told me before he travelled that the upholstery and others things to be used in the house were imported and that they will arrived in the next few days”.
The associate however, expressed anxiety over the fate of the surviving four children. “My concern is about the fate the remaining four children. My fear is whether the family members will be able to nurture the business and train the remaining children reasonably as Columbus would have done himself, so that they can have a bright future. Late Columbus was very comfortable and had a lot of resources. However, some of us his friends, have agreed to monitor closely how his property will be controlled and we are determined to ensure that his children are not subjected to any form of hardship by members of their extended family,” he said.
Another colleague of the late Columbus who said he is also from the same Enugu, while expressing his fears over the future of the four surviving children said: “I know how our people can be selfish sometimes. Don’t be surprised to see that despite the wealth this man left behind, his relations will struggle among themselves and share everything, including money in bank account, and leave these children to wallow and suffer, but, God forbid. That will not be their portion!”
He, however, advised the family members to instill the fear of God and take good care of the surviving children and the business so that they will not have any reason to suffer in the future, considering the huge in¬vestments their late father left behind.
At the Holy Rosary Catholic Church, during wake-keep, Rev. Fr. Okolo, who preached the homily drew peoples’ attention to the tran¬sient nature of life but emphasized that “where they have gone to is certainly better than this harsh world”. He prayed for the repose of the deceased and cautioned against materialism without the fear of God. Hun¬dreds of Christian faithful, associates, friends and sympathizers attended the funeral mass.