In 1972, in the quiet town of Ajalli near Awka, in what is now Anambra State, a father made a choice that would be remembered not for defiance, but for love.
Stanley Enekwe, a young man and former Biafran soldier, had been convicted of armed robbery and sentenced to death by firing squad. His community insisted on his innocence, but their pleas were lost amid the harsh realities of a turbulent post-war era. Mercy was not forthcoming.
At the time, public executions were more than punishment—they were spectacles. Families of the condemned often stayed away, choosing silence and distance over association with shame. But Stanley’s father chose a different path. He refused to abandon his son.
On the day of the execution, as Stanley stood facing his fate, his father stood beside him. Not in protest. Not in anger. But in unwavering love. He did not turn away. He did not falter.
As the midday sun pressed down and the air thickened with fear and tension, the father reached for his son. With a trembling hand, he gently wiped the sweat from Stanley’s face—one final act of care, one last expression of fatherly devotion.
Then, in a voice calm and steady with faith, he whispered:
“Fear not. The Lord is waiting to receive you.”
In that moment, death lost its final sting. Love stood taller than fear. A father’s presence became his son’s last refuge, and his final gift was not despair, but the reassurance that he would not face the end alone.
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