Uche’s whereabouts has not been known ever since his wife, Ruth, a 34-year-old woman, from Abia state, broke the news of his disappearance.
According to The Nation, Uche’s wife came to the Lagos state secretariat on Thursday, July 2, with her six children, seeking assistance. A lot of people did not know what she wanted, as she stood under a tree, beside the Press Centre, carrying her babies. The first two sets of twins, who were much older, stood beside their mother and appeared not to be moved by the large numbers of cameras and people looking at them.
A reporter went to her and She started her narration with the story of how she had her first set of twins, Goodness and Goodnews, in 2009. Both were females. Her second set, a boy and a girl, named John and Joyce, were delivered two years after the first. However, when her husband learnt that her third pregnancy would also be another set of twins, he fled their home at 32, Awori street, Agege, to an unknown location in Ikorodu.
She delivered her last set of twins, Daniel and Daniella in June. Uche’s wife said the burden of increase in demand for food, clothes, drugs and school fees is killing her. She said her salary as a private school teacher in Lagos was a pittance and could no longer sustain them.
She said:
“I met my husband in 2002 but we got married in 2008. We met in the village at Umuahia. I don’t want to leave the children and run away. This is why I want government to help us.”
Ruth recollected that she never needed the third pregnancy, however, the traditional method of family planning of counting fertile and infertile days she used, failed her.
“I was using traditional way of family planning where I calculate some days before having intercourse. It was working for me. You can see my first set of twins is four years old.
“You know as women, we cannot deny our husband that thing whenever they request for it. Whenever I mistakenly take in, he would say that I was pretending. Sometimes, I would go through long process to abort the pregnancy. After that, another one would happen. I would still have to go through the process again to abort it. When this one happened he still insisted that I was pretending until the pregnancy became obvious.
“My Church was responsible for the payment of the first delivery. The church paid N120, 000 for the delivery of the first set of twins. The two deliveries of the twins have been through Caesarean Section for which we paid N120, 000 each. The last twins are through normal delivery.”
She added that her husband, whose place of work is on Iju Road, Agege, has since stopped picking her calls. She said she later knew he was now staying in Ikorodu.
“Since I gave birth to the children, I have tried calling my husband but he would not pick once he knows that it is me. I contacted his mother and other relatives to tell them that he has run away. They promised that they will call back. Since then, none of them has called me. It is not easy for me at all.
“I know only two of his relations. One of them lives in Ikorodu; the other one lives at Ajegunle. My elder brother, who could have also helped, is very angry with me for giving birth to another set of twins. He warned me before not to have any other child after the two sets of twins, especially with the kind of husband I have.
“I cannot put my hands in blood shedding by committing abortion. I want Nigerians to help me because there is nobody to pay their school fees.
“I went for immunisation some days ago and I told them my condition and why they have not been seeing me. It was there that they advised that I should come to government. Government should please help my children; no one to help me with house rent, electricity bill, school fees, food and so on.” Mrs. Uche said.
