Hours after the birth of her twin girls, Margaret Emmanuel gave up the
ghost, leaving her husband with the twins and their three grown-up
siblings. To make matters worse, Margaret’s family in Ebonyin are
demanding that Emmanuel fulfills a vital aspect of their culture before
the burial ceremonies even commence.
At first it was congratulations and celebration galore as Madam Margaret
Emmanuel was delivered of a set of beautiful twin girls. But few hours
after, the joyful mood turned sour and mourning took over, as news
filtered in that mother of the twins had passed on.
marked the beginning of the trauma of her husband and father of the
twins, Mr. Adejo Emmanuel. Aside being shattered by the news, he was
suddenly faced with a somewhat insurmountable challenge of weaning two
infants alone. But the trauma did not end there, only Emmanuel didn’t
know at this point in time.
Lamenting his predicament, Emmanuel said, “My life is like a balloon
that was punctured with a pin, which immediately deflated it of all the
joy. When a woman is pregnant the prayer is to hear the babies’ cries
and that of the mother’s joy; but now the mother is gone, leaving the
babies,” Emmanuel said, sobbing.
That was the story of the Emmanuel family last December 21. As if the
agony was not enough, the deceased’s family members sent a message to
the husband that he has to obey their custom and tradition by performing
certain rituals and rites. Chief amongst these rights includes
performing the mandatory marriage ceremonies with the deceased wife, an
activity the couple had failed to perform while the late Margaret was
alive. Without that, they told him that he is barred from coming to his
wife’s village in Akenze, Ebonyin State, let alone, burying the corpse.
Emmanuel, a peasant farmer in his mid-50s is thus being called upon to
go through wedding ceremonies with his late wife’s corpse. Coming from
Emmanuel’s Igala ethnic background, this is rather bizarre and
unimaginable. He lamented, “I don’t know what went wrong and I don’t
know my sin. Like any other fellow
Christian, when everybody was preparing for Christmas, I was preparing
as well, both for a merry Christmas, safe delivery for my wife and a
successful naming ceremony for the babies; not knowing that I had
another thing coming.”
Late Margaret’s last moment
Narrating his wife’s last moment, Emmanuel said he suddenly saw his wife
at Ugbagbo farm in Owo, where he was working unannounced. “When I saw
her, I scolded her and asked why she came all the way to the farm,
because she was already heavy and ready to deliver. I also asked why she
did not go to the hospital instead of coming to the farm to meet me. Of
course, this was not her first pregnancy, as she had previously had
four children before this pregnancy.
evening. We therefore waited till the second day. However she went into
labour in between and was delivered of the twin girls. She was attended
to by Traditional Birth Attendants, but the placenta did not come out.
We quickly got her into a vehicle and headed for the General Hospital at
Oke-Ogun in Owo. Unfortunately she did not make it, as she gave up the
ghost at the entrance of the hospital. I noticed that her condition had
worsened and she was getting dizzy. She thus got to the hospital, dead.
To say the least, I was devastated. I became confused and almost ran
mad. The nurses, who knew her, were surprised that she went to the farm
instead of the hospital. She was well known at the hospital, because
that was where she had all her children. She had also attended antenatal
there.”
Twins under custody
Honourable Segun Obasekola, a Councillorship aspirant in Igboroko Nla
Street, Owo and landlord of No 44, Igboroko Nla Street, where the family
resides, said he pitied the man, Emmanuel for losing his wife at
childbirth: “When they approached me for a room and I discovered they
had no money, I have no choice but to allow them use the room
free-of-charge. I did not know anyone of them, but as a community leader
and a man with milk of kindness, I think this is one way I can render
help. Here a Good Samaritan, Mrs. Femisola Akilamilo is taking care of
the twins. Mrs. Akinlamilo, a prophetess who is also called Mother of
Children (Iya Ewe) in her Cherubim and Seraphim Church.”
When The Nation got to 44, Igboroko Nla Street, the woman and the babies were found in a room, where she takes care of them.
Speaking, the twins’ guardian Madam Akinlamilo said she was called by a
church member to come and assist the motherless children who had just
been delivered. She said: “My cell phone just rang last December 23
(2015), and a friend broke the news that a mother of twins had just died
and there was nobody to take care of them. She added that since I am a
mother of kids in the church, I should try and assist in taking care of
the babies. He also said I would be given stipends. So I obliged. I am a
widow, I have four children and my last child is 11 years old. Since I
am not under any man’s roof, I gladly accepted the role of a guardian,
as God sent me.”
Asked if she breast-feeds the babies, the woman declared in a touching
voice, “There is no milk in my breasts anymore, but the nurses and
doctors have recommended their food (SMA). They consume a tin of the
baby food within three days, but their father is a poor farmer; so when I
ran out of their food, I went to Alhaji Jamiu Ekungba, a gubernatorial
aspirant in Ondo State and narrated the story to him in order to solicit
his to assistance. I also met one Mr. Jide Tububo, who advised me to go
to the press and do the necessary legal papers, for I was ignorant of
all such stuff. As I speak, we have no food to give them today, because
they have exhausted what we had in stock.”
Asked whether she had intimated the welfare office or the police that
she is in custody of the babies, Mrs. Akinlamilo became a bit jittery
and said, “I am ignorant of that. I am just acting as a Good Samaritan; I
don’t know that I should report to the Welfare Office or the police.
Please can you enlighten me more to avoid any problems,” she pleaded
with this reporter. Mrs. Akinlamilo said she is appealing to the state
government and NGOs to come to the twins’ aide.”
In the course of this discussion, Emmanuel, father of the twins came in
with a tin of SMA baby food. He announced with relish that he just
bought one tin from the money given to him.
Many rivers to cross
Now the corpse of the late Margaret has been deposited at the mortuary
while preparation is on the way to go to Akenze in Ebonyi State to
officially announce the news of his wife’s demise and also perform the
necessary rituals and rites. But there still is a snag. Emmanuel has no
money.
He said: “The family of my late wife have asked me to come and do
marriage ceremonies h my wife and come up with the sum of 350,000 naira
before anything could even take off. Where would I get the money from? I
am confused. They should pity my condition and understand that I’m
still taking care of her four children. Three of them are in secondary
school, not to talk of the twins,” he said.
So while Margaret’s corpse lies in the mortuary, Emmanuel is confused and disturbed, as he is facing three hurdles: “I
have no money to pay for the mortuary; I also have no money to feed the
children; and my in-laws are demanding for the death certificate of
their daughter, which they say I must bring along whenever I am coming.
They also say it is compulsory for me to come over and do a compulsory
marriage with her before she could be buried. They say some rituals must
be performed and 350,000 naira must be paid to her family as part of
her bride-price, before talking about the burial at all. Where do I get the money from? Am I not in trouble now?”
According to Emmanuel, his in-laws don’t even want to entertain or
listen to any excuse or explanation; all they care about is for him to
fulfil all the necessary requirements.
Asked how he met his wife, Emmanuel replied that, “You can meet your
wife anywhere, so far there is love and the woman agrees to marry you. I
am from Idah in Igala, Kogi State, and we met here in Owo, Ondo State. I
never knew this is what I would face.”