DAVAO CITY (MindaNews / 26 June 2026) – “Divine is home. His body arrived in his hometown Umueri in Anambra state today, but this is not the homecoming we prayed for. We sent him to the Philippines with blessings, with dreams. Today, he returned to us in casket,” Nwozor-Mabia Ogonna Grace, aunt of Chukwuemeka Divine Adili posted on her social media account at 5:50 a.m. on Friday, June 26.
“Rest well, Chuks. You left as our pride. You returned as our pain,” she wrote.
Adili was buried on Friday, his aunt livestreaming the funeral “for his Filipino friends, his teammates and loved ones.”
In the Philippines, hours before Adili’s burial, Local Governments Secretary Jonvic Remulla announced in a press conference that the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group has recommended the filing of charges against resigned Ateneo Blue Eagles head coach Tab Baldwin and 10 others for violation of the Anti-Hazing Law that led to the death of Baterbonia and Adili.
Adili’s remains arrived in Lagos, Nigeria on Thursday, 17 days after he and teammate Rene Clert Baterbonia of Talacogon in Agusan del Sur, drowned in Dipaculao, Aurora during a “team building” activity of the Ateneo de Manila University’s (ADMU) Blue Eagles basketball team.
Baterbonia, 18, Most Valuable Player (MVP) for basketball in the Palarong Pambansa 2025, arrived at the ADMU campus on June 4, where he was an incoming freshman. Four days later, he was dead.
Adili, described as the family’s breadwinner, was 18 when he arrived in the Philippines in 2023. He first joined the New Era University Junior Hunters (2023 to 2025) and won the MVP titles from the National Athletic Association of Schools, Colleges and Universities (NAASCU) Juniors Division in 2023 and 2024.
He moved to ADMU in schoolyear 2025-2026 and was a rookie in the 2025 University Athletic Association of the Philippines’ Season 88.
Adili’s remains were repatriated on Monday, accompanied by the ADMU’s chaplain, Fr. Sigmund ‘Munching’ de Guzman, and a representative from the Nigerian Embassy in Manila.
“We are grateful to share that Divine Adili has safely returned home to Nigeria, where he was received by his family upon his arrival in Lagos,” the ADMU announced on its social media page at 12:35 p.m. on Thursday.
It said de Guzman accompanied Divine “throughout his journey home and later traveled to be with the Adili family as they received their son.”
It added that Divine’s parents “expressed their heartfelt gratitude to the Ateneo community and to all who helped bring him home with dignity and care.”
Questions for ADMU
“We don’t understand. But we cannot question God,” his aunt wrote.
On June 25, she wrote that Adili will be laid to rest “a hero, a giant with humble heart” on June 26.
“Tomorrow, we lay our son, our brother and our Odogwu to rest and as per the request of his Friends, we have Plans to stream his burial online through this account for his Filipino friends, his teammates and love(d) ones to join,” she said
Odogwu is an Igbo word from Nigeria that translates to “hero” or “a great person.”
Divine’s aunt said his kindness, compassion, and goodwill “touched countless lives, and the world continues to speak of the beautiful legacy you left behind.”
“Though your life was cut short, your impact will never fade. We will continue to celebrate you, cherish your memories, and honor the values you lived by. Your legacy will live on in the hearts of all who knew and loved you. Rest on, dear nephew. You are deeply loved, forever remembered, and greatly missed. May your gentle soul rest in perfect peace,” she added.
On June 11, Nwozor-Mabia Ogonna Grace appealed for justice for his nephew.
In a post titled “Justice for Divine Adili,” she said “the first son and hope of his family,” informed them a few days earlier, that he and his teammates were heading to a training camp. “At no point did he mention that they would be taken to the ocean.”
“We are devastated and searching for answers,” she said, and listed six questions:
- How did a student lose his life during a school-organized activity?
- Were adequate safety measures put in place before students were taken to the water?
- Were trained lifeguards present and positioned to respond immediately in an emergency?
- Were proper risk assessments conducted beforehand?
- Were emergency response protocols available and effectively implemented?
- Could this tragedy have been prevented?
“Our family is experiencing unimaginable pain, emotional trauma, and heartbreak. No family should ever receive the devastating news that a child who left for a school activity would never return home,” she said.
She called on authorities in Nigeria and the Philippines, the ADMU administration and all responsible agencies to conduct a thorough, independent, and transparent investigation into the circumstances surrounding Divine’s death.
“We seek the truth. We seek accountability. We seek justice. Divine’s life mattered. His dreams mattered. His future mattered,” she wrote.
More questions for ADMU
On June 12, she posted another call for “Justice for Divine Adili” and tagged the social media page of ADMU.
“How does a brilliant young and talented boy go to school to build a future, only to return to his parents lifeless? The heartbreaking reality facing the family of Divine Adili is a pain no parent should ever endure,” she wrote.
She said Divine, the first son of Elias Adili and Mabia Ifeoma Adili, whom she described as “the beacon of hope, and the breadwinner of his family,” is gone forever.
The 21-year old Divine, she stressed, did not die of natural causes. “He died out of the carelessness and negligence of Ateneo de Manila University Management” and wants ADMU to answer four more questions:
- Why were students taken to a high-risk, dangerous location without basic safety protocols?
- Where were the trained lifeguards?
- What happened to emergency response measures?
- Why was a young, promising life exposed to such fatal negligence?
Her aunt said the death of Adili and Baterbonia “wasn’t just a tragedy; it was entirely preventable.”
“Carelessness is not an accident — it is a choice. And that choice has cost a family their primary joy and hope,” she said.
Divine’s parents, siblings, and loved ones, she added, “are currently trapped in unimaginable emotional trauma and heartbreak” and the silence from the institutions involved “is deafening, but our voices will be louder.”
She called on ADMU management to “please break your silence” and “take accountability.”
“Nigerian Michael Jordan”
On April 14, 2017, Mabia Ifeoma Adili greeted her son on his 12th birthday and referred to him as the “Nigerian Michael Jordan.”
She posted on her social media page: “Happy birthday to my son, my first blood, my swthrt, my boyfrnd, my 2nd husband, my basket baller, my crush, word cannot express my love for you, Nigerian Michael Jordan, I can’t wait to see you playing for Lakers, may d lord fulfill your dream, bless and keep u in good health, u will always be leader among ur mates,Your height will take u to places dat matters, d grace of God will announce your name all over d world, ur a star I wish you d best my son, u will excel, l hrt u like kilode, l love u my hrtbeat, Happy birthday once again.”
Apparently coming from a close-knit clan, his aunts and uncles also greeted him, a number of them calling him “my son.”
“I love you like kilode” is an expression in Nigeria that you love someone so much.
Divine replied: “Amen.. Tanks mom…” (Carolyn O. Arguillas / MindaNews)
