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| illustrative photo depicting witchcraft |
This is a pathetic story, it was sent to us by the wife who was abandoned, she wants other women to learn from her experience, she hopes men will benefit from it too.
For legal reasons, and to protect the image of the family involved, names have been changed. Location, timing and everything else are same as we received.
Please learn from her story.
It all began in 2010, when my husband decided to travel to Germany for greener pastures. Before this time, we were not suffering, we were an average family.
I and my husband worked in the same government owned establishment, we have three kids together, although my husband has 2 kids from two previous relationships during his secondary school days, they didn't live with us, they both were with their different mothers.
By the way, i was not aware my husband had kids before i married him, i only found out after my wedding, when i was 7 months pregnant with my first daughter.
Back to how he left to Germany, 4 years prior to his decision to travel abroad, he was transferred to Lagos while i remained with the kids in Edo state.
My husband comes to Benin every weekend, goes back to his station on Sunday evenings. We continued that way, everything was fine. My children were enrolled at a private school, i had a car which i gave to a driver for ''town service'' he balances a particular amount everyday.
On a particular Friday in 2010, he just got home from Lagos, had his meal, summoned me that he had something crucial to discuss with me.
He said he is thinking of travelling abroad, a friend of his, Mr Mathew was offering to process his travel documents. I did not try to discourage him, i felt it was what he wanted and will probably be beneficial to the family.
I asked him when he plans to embark on the trip, he said he wasn't sure yet, but will let me know. He was going to inform his family members of his plans.
The next week, he came to Benin as usual, two weeks after, he did not show up. I and the kids waited on Friday night; because we usually had dinner together.
When after midnight he didn't come, i let the kids go to bed, i hoped he was safe, tried to believe his vehicle probably developed some fault on the high-way and he will be back on Saturday.
Days turned into weeks, he didn't come, i decided to take action. I took permission from my work place, took my kids to their grandma; who is now late, then i set off to Lagos.
I went to his last known address, somewhere around Ikeja, there was a restaurant in the compound, i went to his room, it was locked, peeped through the door, everything seemed in place.
I had to meet the sales girl at the restaurant, asked her about my husband, only to be told he had travelled abroad.
Dejected but relieved, i went back to Benin, straight to Mr Mathew's house to ask of my husband's whereabouts, he told me he left for Germany the previous week.
I went to my mom to pick up the children, shared the somewhat happy news with them; their father is now abroad. Our lives will become better, we will be able to afford things we previously could not afford; if only i knew, i was day dreaming!
Life continued as normal, the children will have their breakfast, join the driver to the junction of their school, after which he goes for the day's business. We lived pay cheque to pay cheque, my mother will usually support us with food items out of love; not because there was shortage of food.
Then an unfortunate incident happened at my workplace, some unidentified staffs where perpetrating some sort of fraud, almost every person in the accounts section was sent on interdiction, including me.
I shed hot tears as i went home 11am, sat by the gate of my home, cried the more.
How was i going to cater for three children alone without a job? there was no other source of income, except the taxi and a merger amount from the tenant that lives in the back flat of our home.
The rent from the flat can barely pay tuition fee of one of my kids, let alone the 3.
Well, few weeks later, i got used to being without a job, some friends advised me to start frying akara, some said; since you have a garden in your compound, you can harvest the ugu leaves, take to the market for sale, it's highly profitable.
Another advised me, get a grinding machine, place ''grind your tomatoes here'' on the gate, since there are not much of such businesses around here, it will be lucrative.
I went for the later, my blessed, God-sent, highly favoured children where quick to adapt to the new life. Although sometimes they would run inside, hide under their beds, when their schoolmates or teachers come to patronize us.
Few months later, i withdrew my children from their private school, with tears in my eyes, enrolled them at a government school in the area.
God smiled at me, i was vindicated after a team of auditors sent from our Lagos branch discovered the exact staffs who were defrauding the company.
I was called back to work, paid arrears, for the months i stayed at home. I wasted no time to withdraw my children from the public school back to what they were used to. They had spent one term in the public school named after a particular Oba in Benin Kingdom.
We ate rice and turkey, had lots of soft drinks, went to church for thanksgiving when i was called back to work.
The grinding machine? I rented it out to a church member, who sold pap(akamu) at her house, she added the grinding business to her pap trade, at the end of the week, she would balance a particular amount to me, whatever she made more than that, was hers.
Months turned into years, no phone call, no letters, no fax message from my husband.
I was running from pillar to post, i followed every friend who offered to help me seek solution, moving from one prophet to another, travelling from one village to another, in search of native doctors; some would tell me my husband has remarried, some would say he was dead, some would say he was abroad and very rich....the guessing game was strong.
We will continue with the concluding part of the story on the next post, how her husband showed up with a white woman after 7 years, how he had been in contact with his family all along, how he didn't recognize this own children and many more to come...
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