R

elatives and friends of drug convicts Okwudili Oyatanze and Andrew Chan, who were executed at midnight on Tuesday on Nusakambangan prison island in Cilacap, Central Java, have begun to mourn their loved ones.

Oyatanze, from Nigeria, was buried at the Gita Eklesia Foundation orphanage in Ambarawa, Semarang regency, Central Java, on Wednesday.

The body of Oyatanze, or Dili as he was affectionately called, arrived at the orphanage on Wednesday afternoon. It was greeted by a big poster saying '€œWelcome Home Uncle Dili'€ and the sounds of reggae songs that the deceased had produced.

Rina, the owner of the foundation, said that she had known Dili since 2004, when she began to provide him with religious guidance in prison on Nusakambangan.

'€œDili had been an orphan since he was only seven months old. He was raised by his grandma. His previous life had been very tough,'€ Rina said, adding that she had been guiding Dili for 11 years.

In her role, Rina said, she also often took children from the orphanage with her to Nusakambangan to meet Dili.

'€œThe children here felt close to him. They called him Uncle Dili,'€ she said.

These close bonds led to Dili asking to be buried at the orphanage.

In his last message, Rina said, Dili, who wrote many stories in many languages while in prison, apologized to the orphans for not cooking for them when they visited him in Nusakambangan.

The other seven drug convicts executed on Wednesday were Indonesian Zainal Abidin, Australians Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran, Brazilian Rodrigo Gularte, Nigerians Sylvester Obiekwe Nwolise and Raheem Agbaje and Ghanaian Martin Anderson.

Meanwhile, in Kupang, East Nusa Tenggara (NTT), the Herewila family expressed their deepest condolence for the execution of Chan, the husband of their relative Febyanti Herewila.

'€œWe ask Febyanti to be strong and tough in dealing with this,'€ Peter Herewila told The Jakarta Post on Wednesday.

Peter said the death of Andrew Chan was a great loss for the family, especially because Febyanti and Chan'€™s marriage had been so short.

'€œNo one, not even the family, can cheer Feby up, but we believe Jesus will cheer our sister Feby up,'€ he said.

Peter also said that his extended family had offered full support to Feby, including regarding her decision to accompany Chan'€™s body to Australia for the funeral.

The family, according to Peter, was only informed about Febyanti'€™s marriage to Chan four days before they got married.

'€œTo love or be loved by somebody is everybody'€™s right. It'€™s Feby'€™s right to love Andrew and to decide to marry to him,'€ said Peter, adding that Feby'€™s mother had approved the marriage.

Chan married Feby on Monday in a ceremony on Nusakambangan island.

Feby, Peter said, was the 11th of 12 children of the late James Herewila and Sri Herewila.

Upon finishing her pastoral studies in Singapore, she was assigned to offer religious supervision at the Kerobokan Penitentiary in Bali, where she met Chan.