I THOUGHT MY WIFE WAS PREGNANT FOR ME UNTIL ALEKWU ARRESTED HER IN LABOUR

Alekwu (or spirits of the ancestors) is greatly feared in Idomaland. It forces witches, ‘ritualists’, murderers, adulterous wives and men who pay for abortions to either die mysteriously or confess their evil. The rules are endless…but the aim is simple: live righteously. Find out how it ‘forced’ a confession out of a woman who was wicked enough to be sleeping with another man on her matrimonial bed.     

My name is Samson and I hail from Otukpa in Ogbadibo Local Government Area of Benue State. The story I am about to share with you is one that shook my whole life to the very foundation. It is very easy to forgive others the wrongs done us. However, to forget is another thing that is often demanded of us but almost impossible.

 Even though I am still in my early 30s, it is important to say that I have become a very wise man in understanding women. The love they give, the pain and misery they are capable of causing us and the chameleon in them. A woman can be smiling the sweetest smile on earth at you while stabbing you in the back with the sharpest knife. How do I know? Experience, they say, is the best teacher.

I was bitten terribly by a woman few years ago and, as the saying goes, I am now twice shy with women. I used to live in Gwagwa in Abuja. That was before El-Rufai’s merciless bulldozers came calling. I had heard so many stories of Alekwu -the deity my people worshipped before Christianity came - and seen how offenders were punished when I was in the village. This strong deity that represents the spirits of our fathers demands obedience to endless laws from my people. Even those of us who profess to be Christians don’t dare break her rules.

A woman is prohibited from sleeping with another man other than her husband after marriage. She cannot engage in any form of interaction that is sexually immoral in any way. Where a man eats food prepared by an adulterous wife, after knowing that she is unfaithful, death is most likely the punishment. But first, her son will begin to die mysteriously.

 Alekwu also prohibits the harming of one’s kinsmen through witchcraft or other diabolical means. Physically taking one’s life is also unacceptable. Abortions are thus prohibited and dangerous. Many young men who ignorantly gave money to their girlfriends to abort their babies have met their untimely deaths. Being a devout Christian, I do not subscribe to Alekwu worship. I do know, however, that God also condemns adultery, murder and other wicked acts that Alekwu forbids.

I was an official in my church and very hard-working. I actively participated in church activities like singing, praying and evangelism. Gwagwa, my community was really congested so it wasn’t surprising that there were many members in our church. Because of the active role I played in church, a lot of people knew and respected me, both inside and outside the church. I was aware of this fact and tried my best possible to live up to their expectation.

I had never been a womanizer. On the contrary, I avoided women. My meager salary as a primary school teacher in a private school could barely cover my expenses. Why increase my burden and worries by having a girl friend? Girl friends only increased a man’s expenses. I remember how in school, my friends and I discovered that many of the girls we assumed to be ‘butty’ were actually ‘kpako’. They drank garri in their rooms but ate only assorted and expensive dishes when a man took them out. While you screamed inwardly at the injustice and wondered if your pocket could take the shock, they played around the food, picking and complaining that it was either too strong or tasteless.

 I wasn’t a woman-hater but learnt to stay away from them. Things were like that - until I met Queen.

I fell in love with Queen at first sight. She was both beautiful and attractive. She was a relative of my uncle’s wife so I began to make moves to her heart through that angle. It was plain that Queen didn’t feel the same way I felt from the onset. She always snubbed me and explained that she didn’t want to marry me.

 When I discovered that she had once been married and divorced under less than a year, I did not back off. Rather, I intensified moves to win her love. My uncle’s wife encouraged me to be nice to her and believe that she was mine. She promised to continue to woo her for me.

I continued to visit Queen and give her presents, bought with my meager salary I employed various tactics but did not succeed in getting her to love me. I was shocked when, one evening, queen emerged from nowhere and landed in my room. She smiled sweetly at me and did not show any of her snobbish traits. I couldn’t believe my eyes. Was this the girl I had done everything humanly possible to get under my roof but without any success? I lavishly entertained her and was as excited as a teenager on his first date.

As the evening drew into the night, I found an excuse to delay Queen from leaving. I told her how much I loved her and wanted to marry her. Shyly but convincingly, she expressed her own love for me and agreed to my proposal. After our lengthy conversation, one thing led to another and we ended up making love. Unprotected sex!

I had no condom in my room. I had pushed women out of my life for sometime before I met Queen. I thought I wasn’t ready for marriage yet and with my active participation in church, I didn’t envisage sex with any woman, because I was still single. Queen actually pushed me into it. She was so insisted and appealing. I never suspected it was a trap.

The happiness that ought to have followed my success with Queen was marred by guilt. For days, my conscience troubled me. I couldn’t pray. How did I allow myself to be used by Satan? I was a born again Christian and a role model to many members of the church. Before long, I was able to put the sin behind me.

 I began to make plans of maintaining Queen as a fiancée. “Let’s court for three years or less and then get married,” I told her. I didn’t want to marry her just yet because I knew I couldn’t afford the expensive cost of a traditional marriage and another one in church. It is no secret that our elders have conspired to sell their daughters off as expensive items. More so, I needed to prepare very well for a family before starting one. You can imagine how shocked and scared I was when Queen came to inform me, in less than one month after we had unprotected sex, that she was pregnant with my baby!

I informed my friend and we began to borrow money for a fast marriage. Abortion was not an option because as I explained before, to have an abortion in my place is against the law of Alekwu. It means death for the man. Being a strong Christian also, the option did not appeal to me. If my church members got to know that I impregnated a girl outside wedlock or got a baby outside wedlock, the humiliation would be unbearable. I knew I would be suspended and every one would be disappointed. They thought too highly of me.

To avert the impending humiliation of having a baby outside wedlock, I borrowed money from friends, relatives and even the church treasury to conduct a fast traditional marriage. Everyone was surprised but we kept the pregnancy secret. We explained to them that we loved each other and couldn’t wait. After the traditional marriage, we had a church wedding. I frowned at the tradition of marrying twice in Nigeria. It took more expenses but we had to do it. My position in church did not permit a marriage without pastor’s blessings.

The traditional marriage and church wedding came and went smoothly even though I was heavily indebted, I was happy that I had smartly avoided the scandal that could have rocked the church and engulfed us.

Queen and I began to live together as husband and wife in Gwagwa. The first week of married life witnessed no sex between us. Visitors and relatives really did not allow us much privacy. In public, we were seen as very happy but at home, our marriage was devoid of any form of romance.

Ogwuche, a young man from Kogi State visited our home from time to time. He was introduced to me by Queen as a family friend and I never had any cause to suspect him of anything. He came to our house freely, even when I was not around and that was often.

Except for once or twice, Queen and I did not have any form of romance; even as husband and wife for the whole of the period we lived together. I endured her coldness toward me, suspecting that her pregnancy was responsible. How wrong I was. When labour pangs caught her many months later, I was surprised because it was really early. I knew people would raise eye brows and suspect that she was pregnant during the wedding but even by my own calculation, labour was really early.

Queen was admitted in a popular private hospital in Gwagwa. Our choice of the hospital was because the doctor was an Idoma man from Otukpa and a man of God as well. Bills could be settled at our convenience.

Queen was in labour for three whole days, screaming and restless, but the baby refused to come. On the third day, she asked to be alone with the doctor. She said she had a confession to make. If my uncle or anyone had suspected that Alekwu was at work, they kept it to themselves. You can imagine how surprised I was when I heard what Queen had to say.

The doctor did not consent to Queen’s request. He told her to say anything she wanted to say in the presence of my uncle, his wife and I. He was equally suspicious of her but hadn’t prompted her to say anything. In pains and sobbing uncontrollably, she told us how she had been an unfaithful wife, a liar and a wicked woman.

 Ogwuche, the Igala man she introduced to me as a family friend was actually her boyfriend and the one who got her pregnant. She confessed that she had continued sleeping with him even after we got married. That accounted for her coldness toward me. She said she never loved me. On why she used me when Ogwuche could easily have owned up, she was silent. To convince us of the authenticity of her story she asked for a cell phone which was given to her. She dialed Ogwuche’s number and told him she was in labour. She further told him the name of the hospital and gave him a description. A little calm after the confession, she explained that the man was innocent of any blame that we were likely to charge him with. Queen said she never him that I was her husband but only an elder brother.

True to Queen’s words, Ogwuche soon came to the hospital. He explained that Queen was carrying his baby and even proceeded to pay hospital bills. He was shocked when the doctor informed him that the woman was my wife.

By and large, Queen was delivered of a baby girl through a Caesarean Section. After the successful operation, we thought all was well. Several hours later, her stomach began to swell rapidly and uncontrollably. The doctors did everything possible to save her live but she couldn’t make it. She died miserably a few weeks later, the baby also died. It was later revealed by the elders that it was Alekwu that brought her to justice.

 Ogwuche was arrested but later released, even as I recall this bitter experience, I wonder why she did if in the first place. May Queen’s soul rest in peace. I’m sure she genuinely repented before her death.

Editor’s note: if you were in Samson’s shoes, would you ever trust a woman again? Kindly leave your comments and the moral lessons learnt from the story.