Sharing the sad
incident with LIB, the daughter of the victim, Agatha, a student of Federal
Polytechnic in Bida. said her mother and her stepfather, Aduku Sunny White,
have been married for over 17 years. Her mother is the third wife of Mr. Aduku
and they have three children together. Agatha said her mother had her from a
previous relationship before she got married to Mr. Aduku who is a traditional
doctor.
Agatha said
immediately her mother got married to Mr. Aduku, he barred her from working and
compelled her to become a fulltime housewife. She claimed her stepfather
subjected her to emotional abuse, insulting her at the slightest opportunity
irrespective of where they find themselves. She told LIB that her mother stayed
in the union despite all the sadness and pain her husband allegedly caused her.
According to her, she was made to go live with her stepfather's brother because
he never wanted her in his house.
She said trouble
started when after a recent quarrel they had, Mr. Aduku called his brother and
instructed him to throw her out of his house and allegedly threatened to severe
his relationship with his brother if he doesn't do his bidding
'' My mum and my
stepfather had some issues and so I went to stay with the brother who is a
pastor living in town. He called the brother and asked the brother to send me
out of his house and that if he still wants to remain his brother, he should
chase me out of the house. The brother had no option, he gave me some money and
asked me to leave.
When my mother heard
that my stepfather asked his brother to send me away from his house, she said
she cannot sleep in his own house and be eating while she doesn't know where I
was . She had to leave the house so she can look for me. She had other children
with him so she left them with him so she can look for me.
Meanwhile I looked
for a one room apartment at Dantata area. My mum said she would come and join
me. When she told my stepfather that she was going to look for me, he told her
that if she goes out, she should never come back into his house. My mum said
yes it is better, she will go.
When she came to
meet me, she started looking for work because for the past 17 years they have
been married, he stopped her from working and going to school. He just wants
her to sit at home doing nothing and if she asks him for money, he will insult
her even in the presence of people.'' she said
Agatha said her
stepfather began calling everyone in their family, accusing her of leaving his
home and abandoning their three children with him.
She told LIB that
her stepfather was so enraged that he allegedly took her photo and that of her
mother's, did a voice note claiming they were both lesbians and that they
absconded from his house to practice lesbianism. Agatha claimed he posted the
voice note with their photos on his Whatsapp status and it was seen by many
people who downloaded it and started sharing it.
''He took our
picture, did voice note and wrote some things, claiming that we were Lesbians.
He alleged that I initiated my mother into Lesbianism. He posted it on
Whatsapp, looked for my friends and schoolmates and shared it'' she said
According to Agatha,
she filed a complaint at the Sabon Wuse divisional police station because she
feared her school might expel her if they get to know of the false accusation.
''We reported the
case. The police went to his house, arrested him and brought him to the
station. When the police asked for evidence to prove the allegation of
lesbianism, he started pleading, saying he ws angry when he made the
allegation. He told the police that we were not lesbians and that he was
annoyed and that is why he was just looking for a way to spoil my image.'' she
said
Agatha said after
much pleading, she asked the police to release him and withdrew the case only
on grounds that he does another voice note where he would debunk the
allegations of lesbianism. She said he
agreed, did the voice note, and published it on his Whatsapp status.
Agatha said her stepfather called her mother's people to inform them that they need to ensure that their sister returns back to his house so she can take care of their three children as his other wife cannot do that. She said her mum spoke with her family and insisted that she will only return back to his house if he will allow her go back to school and start working..
''My mother said
before she will go back to his house, she wants to go back to school, have a
job where she will leave the house in the morning and come back in the evening
and that he should rent a house for her outside because when she was in the
house, he will abuse her morning, afternoon and night, accusing her of
stealing. He never trusts my mother. Whenever he is eating and his phone rings,
he will ask his other wife to come and seat near his food as he doesn't trust
my mother.'' she said
Agatha explained
that her mother's relative came from the village to Suleja to see if they could
resolve the matter. She said her mother's older sister and brother who were now
like her parents, arrived Suleja on Thursday, August 27. They went for a
meeting in her stepfather's house on Friday, August 28.
She said at the
meeting, her stepfather started calling her mother a prostitute. According to
her, the older siblings got infuriated by his action and insisted they were
going to leave with their sister as they came there to resolve their issues and
not create more.
''We were about
leaving when he drew my mother back with so much force. She fell on the chair
and he jumped on her. He had his mouth on her ears. He bit off the complete ear
and spat it on the floor. With tension and fear, we started crying and
shouting. He disappeared immediately.
We ran to the
nearest hospital in Kerife to see if they would be able to attach the ear back.
When we got there, the staff said this was beyond what they can handle. They
referred us to Gwagwalada. This was around past 10pm already.
I went out crying to
look for a car that will carry us to Gwagwalada. I saw one man who said it was
too late for him to go to Gwagwalada but that he would be able to take us to
Suleja hospital but that we will have to pay him. I said no problem. He drove
us there, we paid him but the hospital said they could not treat her because he
uprooted the ear completely.'' she told LIB
Agatha said the
hospital then referred them to another hospital and also advised them to ensure
they place the detached ear inside iceblock so that it would not die. She said
there was nowhere they could get ice block and so they got ice sachet water,
placed the detached ear in between the sachet water, and tied it in nylon as
they continued their search for help.
''On getting to the
new hospital, they told us that the doctor wasn't on sit until tomorrow
morning. We cried like we were not going to cry in this life again. Since it
was an emergency, we said let us try another hospital. This was few minutes
past 11pm. We came out of the hospital, there was no car going to town.
We saw one man, we
begged him to carry us. We didn't even tell the man that we didn't have
transport again because we knew he would not carry us. We said take us to one
hospital that is close to my working place.
On getting there, I
told my people to take my mother inside while I started begging the driver. I
explained to him that we were not having any money on us and that if had told
him, he would not have carried us. The man said there is no problem and left us
alone.
Getting into the
hospital, the doctor said he cannot sew the ear back since it was completely
uprooted and that the ear was already dead. He said what he can just do is to
treat the face of the wound, give her some injections and pain relief and just
seal it up.
We didn't have any
other thing to do than to bury the dead ear.''
Agatha said she
reported the matter to the police who invited her stepfather. He has been
arraigned before a Sharia court in the state but Agatha says she is not
convinced her mother will get justice with the way the court is handling the
matter. She says her stepfather has been released by the police as they claim
he cannot be detained for more than 24 hours.
She said she and her
mum visited the National Human Rights Commission in Abuja on Tuesday, September
1 but were asked to make their complaint in writing and that there were several
other persons before them who need to be attended to.
She is seeking
justice for her mum.
LIB contacted the
spokesperson of the state police command, Abiodun Wasiu for his comment. He
promised to revert as soon as possible.
See graphic photo of
the woman's ear after it was bitten off
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