Posted by Samuel on Fri 08th Nov, 2024 - tori.ng
Okeke made the appeal when she appeared before the Commissioner for Women Affairs and Social Welfare at the ministry’s headquarters in Awka, on Thursday.
Chikodili Okeke, a widow from Ekwulobia in Aguata Local Government Area of Anambra State, has called on the state government to intervene and protect her from the intimidation and harassment she is facing from her late husband's kinsmen, who are pressuring her to engage in sexual relations with them.
Okeke made the appeal when she appeared before the Commissioner for Women Affairs and Social Welfare at the ministry’s headquarters in Awka, on Thursday.
The case, bordering on alleged torment, intimidation and forceful seizure of property, was reported to the Ministry of Women Affairs and Social Welfare by the widow herself.
Narrating her ordeal before the commissioner, she said her late husband, Christopher, who became critically sick while in Sierra Leone, was brought down to Nigeria for treatment, noting that during his treatment, some of his kinsmen began to interfere in his affairs.
She revealed that her kinsmen invited her several times to their town meetings, where they accused her of not informing them officially that her husband was sick, after which they banned her from everything concerning her husband’s healthcare.
According to her, some of the kinsmen restricted her from visiting or attending to her husband in the hospital, where he was receiving treatment, claiming that the doctor informed them that the sickness usually got worse each time she visited.
She said, “My kinsmen in collaboration with my husband’s sister bribed and conspired with the doctor treating him and smuggled him out of the hospital to an unknown destination.
“The police from Zone 13, Ukpo, intervened after I reported the matter to them and also arrested some of them, including the doctor, who then confessed that my kinsmen bribed him with N100,000 to lie that the wife’s presence was worsening the husband’s health condition.
“My husband eventually died on the sickbed and after his demise, the kinsmen began to torment and frustrate me even more, making conditions worse for me and my children.
“Apart from the fact that the people did not contribute a dime to my husband’s burial, the kinsmen and my husband’s sister also denied me access to most of my husband’s property, including houses and shops where he has tenants, to the point that feeding and paying my children’s school fees became very difficult.
“The people went to the extent of bringing back the ex-wife of my husband’s father who was divorced many years ago and who bore no child before leaving, inviting her over to come and take over and occupy the majority of the property of my husband.”
The widow lamented that when she approached one of the husband’s kinsmen, identified as Mr Okorocha, and asked him why they were frustrating and making life more difficult for her and her children, he reminded her of his earlier request for her to allow him to “suck” her mammary gland, and which she refused to do.
She alleged that the kinsman insisted that allowing him to “suck” her mammary gland was the only solution to all her problems, while some other kinsmen she approached also requested her to allow them to have sexual affairs with her, which she also turned down.
She explained that her insistence not to grant their requests worsened her condition which necessitated her to cry to the state government for intervention.
Responding to her plight, the Commissioner for Women Affairs and Social Welfare, Ify Obinabo, condemned the act describing it as “pure wickedness and ill-conceived,” adding that it is contradictory to the Igbo cultural values and against what the state governor, Prof. Chukwuma Soludo’s administration stands for.
Obinabo, who was visibly angry about the matter, also assured the widow that the state government would investigate and ensure justice was served while the culprits would be made to face the full weight of the law.