Photo: Woman Whom Husband Left For Having A Set Of Twins The 3rd Time Pleads For Help!

Where  is Citizen
Emeka Benjamin Uche, a Lagos factory worker? That was the big question
yesterday as his wife, Ruth, 34, from Abia State broke the news of his
disappearance since February. Uche, 39, fled home when he learnt that his
expectant wife was carrying a set of twins – the family’s third.

Mrs Uche was at the Lagos State Secretariat, Alausa
yesterday with her six children, pleading for help. Not many knew what she
wanted as she stood under a tree, close to the Press Centre, carrying the
babies. Her first two sets of twins, much older, stood close to their mother,
and did not in any way seem intimidated by the sea of cameras and faces
focusing on them.

Mrs. Uche was receptive when a reporter from The Nation
approached her to narrate her ordeal.

In 2009 when she first conceived, she was delivered of two
girls – Goodness and Godnews. The second conception, two years later, produced
another two – a boy and a girl, named John and Joyce.

But when her husband, Emeka, learnt that the third pregnancy
was another set of two he fled their number 32, Awori Street, Agege home on the
outskirt of Lagos to an undisclosed location in Ikorodu, Lagos.

The third set of twins arrived last month. They were named
Daniel and Daniella.

Mrs. Uche said she could no longer cope with widening needs
for food, clothes, drugs and school fees.

Her meagre earnings as a teacher in a private school in
Lagos can no longer meet their needs.

Her story: “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,” she said.

She recalled that she never wanted the third pregnancy, but
her use of traditional means of family planning (counting fertile and infertile
days) 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”.

Mrs. Uche explained that her husband, a factory worker in
Iju Road, Agege, has since refused to pick her calls. She learnt that he stays
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 ran 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.