The family of Julius Obura was filled with joy after learning that a court had granted their request and ordered the exhumation of the body of their son, Dan Ayoo, who died under mysterious circumstances before being buried within a church compound in Rongo, Migori County.
The family had been waiting for the exhumation after Ayoo was secretly and hurriedly buried within the compound of St Joseph Mission of Messiah in Africa Church in Opapo village in March 2025.
However, their joy was short-lived when they discovered that the body exhumed from the grave was not Ayoo’s.
Instead, public health officers retrieved the body of a woman who had been buried in the same area.
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This emerged after the body was examined by a medical officer at Migori County Hospital, where it was taken following the exhumation.
The body was left at the mortuary as the team involved prepared to begin the exercise afresh.
Mr Obura was later detained by security officers following an incident in which two people died after his family clashed with church members during a confrontation over the body.
A court had ordered the exhumation of Ayoo’s body to facilitate ongoing investigations. Public health officers were instructed to carry out the exercise under police supervision.
The order was expected to allow the family to retrieve the body and bury it according to Luo traditions.
Ayoo was a security officer attached to the General Service Unit (GSU) in Nairobi.
When he joined the National Police Service, his family had high hopes, seeing it as one of the most respected careers in the country.
However, the late officer later became estranged from his family.
Sometime in 2024, he lost contact with his paternal relatives.
“He would call and speak to some relatives, but he never visited us at home as we hoped,” Mr Obura said.
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In December 2024, Mr Obura said he received information that his son was sick.
“We took it upon ourselves to look for him and take him to hospital. We only learnt of his condition after losing contact with him,” he said.
Ayoo later reunited with his family, but disappeared again shortly afterwards.
This time, Mr Obura said, he was taken away by his daughter-in-law.
“We later received news of his death. Just like he had kept his life secret, he was also buried without informing us,” he said.
Ayoo’s wife took the lead in ensuring that he was buried within the church compound.
Since March last year, Mr Obura said he had made several attempts to retrieve his son’s body.
The family initially confronted church members physically in an effort to exhume the body, but the attempt failed.
The confrontation resulted in deaths and injuries among church members and landed the family in trouble with the law.
The incident also attracted the attention of government authorities, who began probing activities at St Joseph Mission of Messiah in Africa Church.
Ayoo’s mother, Ms Pamela Atieno, said the family was informed that the church had a rule requiring members to be buried shortly after death.
She joined other family members at the church compound on Friday as the exhumation exercise began.
“I am happy that we will finally bury our son at his father’s compound,” Ms Atieno said.
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However, she, like the rest of the family, was devastated to learn that the exhumed body was not her son’s.
Mr John Ogutu, Ayoo’s brother-in-law, said the ordeal had taken a psychological toll on the family.
“We had hope when the government said this was a police matter. We decided to follow the law to retrieve the body and bury him in the right place,” he said.
The church has since been closed and declared a crime scene.
