THE EVIL WOMAN

This is a true story of man’s inhumanity to man or better put woman inhumanity to a small girl.

A woman from Akwa Ibom, approached an employment agent at Allen Avenue Ikeja and informed him that she has a 12 year old daughter whom she wants to give out as a domestic servant to make extra money to augment the family’s earning. The agent has this couple that has three children between the ages of 3 and 7 years who are still in primary school and wanted somebody a bit older who can take care of their children. The man is a banker and his wife is a Nurse and both are working. A deal was struck and the monthly pay to madam Ekaite is N5000 per month. The little girl (Mary, not her real name) moved into the couple’s home at Ogba. Little Mary was taken away from his mother in the village by her aunty  at the age of 6 years with a promise to train her for their parents  and ever since then she has not set her eyes on her parents neither has she heard from her mother in the village. Her aunty severed communication with her mother and the only link to the village is via business centre, and even at that, Madam Ekaite will only pass message to Mary’s mother through her grand father’s phone. Within the three months she stayed with Mr. and Mrs. Williams, she became used to their children and was so helpful to the entire family, and does all house hold cores without supervision.  For the first time in Mary’s life in Lagos, she was given a bed to sleep at night, eat on a table and has freedom to watch television with the Williams children; she became part of them and prayed to Almighty God, that nothing will ever take her away from her new home.

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The Williams were so impressed with her service that they now decided to enroll little Mary into the same primary school with their children, Mrs. Williams bought a pair of school uniforms, bags and books for little Mary and brought it to her office hoping to give her when she got home.  This coincided with the period her aunty comes to collect her monthly N5000, Mrs.  Williams after giving her the money announced to Madam Ekaite with an air of great accomplishment, that they have secured a school for Mary, and that by Monday she will start school with her children. She showed Madam Ekaite uniforms, books and school bag she bought for Mary. The response from Madam Ekaite was like a message from the devil himself. It was better imagined than described, and to come from a woman who claimed ownership of the child, means that something is wrong some where and the Williams were going to get to the root. “Who asked you to put my child in a school, was it part of our arrangement? I only asked you to use my child as a house help and pay me money das all, this new arrangement of putting her in school is not part of it, therefore I want my child back”.  Madam Ekaite was so angry with the Williams that she requested to take her girl away that same day, but unfortunately she did not succeed because it was at Mrs. Williams’s office that she comes to collect her money, and that day was Friday so she asked her to come back on Monday to collect her child. When Mrs. Williams got home that day and broke the news of what transpired in the office to Mary, she started crying and begged them not to let her go. “Mummy if you let me go back to Ajegunle I will die, it is God that made me come to your house and I have been praying for you and your children, mummy don’t let that woman take me away” sobbed little Mary. When the three children of the Williams saw Mary crying, they did not want to hear the story they all joined her in crying and begging their parents to forgive her for what ever wrong she did. “Mummy please forgive Aunty Mary we love her, please don’t flog her, they all sang like chorus.  The couple consoled Mary and promised to help her and that she should go to sleep. At exactly 12.00 am the Williams heard a knock on the door to their room, they opened and saw a frail and weak Mary kneeling down, her eyes was red and full of tears, she resumed her begging, “Mummy and daddy I take God beg you do  not send me out of your house, if it is the school, I can stop, just tell my aunty that I said that I don’t want to go to school again so that she will allow me to stay in your house”. She told them of what she had been going through in the hands of Madam Ekaite, and for the first time she reveled that Ekaite was not her mother, and that for six years the woman has been maltreating her and most of the time she sleeps on the corridor in a ‘face me I face you’ compound in the slums some where at Ajegunle. How do we help this innocent child? Call in the police, take her to welfare, or take her to an orphanage? None of the options seem workable. They were confused since there is no way to get across to Mary’s biological mother, at the village somewhere in Akwa Ibom. The girl does not have her mothers phone number neither has she spoken to her parents for the past six years. Then the God factor came to play, Mary told them that she knows the phone no. of her grand father whom she left at the age of six. The Williams went to work, that night; they were determined to help this little angel, what ever it will cost them. They put their phone on speaker and started calling all the GSM number combination Mary gave them. For almost one hour, they were doing trial and error, they were about to give up after this last call then suddenly a coaxed voice came up at the other end and Mary shouted that, na my grand papa voice, I know his voice well, well and in a jiffy, she told her story and asked him to call his mother to come and speak to the Williams.

Jennet Asuquo, Mary’s mother, has never been to Lagos since she was born, but this case will take her to Eko by the grace of God. From the very day she spoke with her daughter, she was deeply worried of her safety in view of all the kidnappings in the country, and what she will do to her blood sister Madam Ekaite and their mother (Mrs. Okon Ekaite’s mother lives with them at Ajegunle) for making merchandise of her daughter. The Williams collected a Bank account number to Jennet’s relation and first thing on Monday, they sent her N10,000.00, as against the N3000.00 she requested, and described how she can get to Lagos and that she should use the first bus and stop at Ojota on Monday. They also gave her their phone number and collected hers for monitoring during the trip. Mrs. Williams came back from work on Monday to present Mary to her mother for the first time after six years, within the six years of the absence of Mary from the village her Mother had three other children and she came to Lagos with the last child who is about six months old. Tears of joy flowed freely from both mother, Mary and all the Williams. Little Mary narrated to her mother, woe’s at Ajegunle in the hand of Madam Ekaite, and now another tears flowed, this time for different reason, admixture of joy and sorrow, joy that she met her daughter, fresh and clean with a bright future, and regrets for the pains she went through in the hands of her blood sister, Madam Ekaite.

Then the urgent business of the day, how to confront the evil woman Madam Ekaite, who was disappointed on that Monday because Mary was not returned to her, she promised Mrs. Williams that “tomorrow I will com here with a police to arrest you for unlawfully keeping my child against my will”. Little did she know that the day of reckoning is come upon her, and that her wickedness has come to an abrupt end.

The night before Monday, was the longest in the life of Jennet Asuquo, she had a vigil with her daughter, praying and thanking God for being there when they needed Him most. She never believed that in her life, she will see her daughter in the present condition, they prayed for the Williams asking God to reward them bountifully for using them to save her daughter.

The Williams went to her office on Tuesday with Mary, and her mother, kept them is a different office while waiting for Madam Ekaite at the reception, she came into the office at exactly 1.00pm which was break period for Mrs. Williams. She was accompanied by her mother and a man who claimed initially to be a police from SARS, but when he was asked to produce his ID he confessed that he was only joking.

The Williams gave them a sheet of paper to write undertaken that they are collecting Mary from her, and that from that moment, they will be held responsible for anything that happen to Mary. Madam Ekaite and his partner in crime Mr. Udoh signed while the Williams signed as witness. A Photographer was around to cover the entire event for future use. All this while Madam Ekaite was restless, because she has not see Mary, and having completed the formalities she retorted, ‘’wey my pikin?’’ Shebi I don sign everything you want me to sign?

Mrs. Williams went into her office and brought out Mary and her mother Jennet, to face her sister and mother. There was commotion and pandemonium as Madam Ekaite fainted on seeing her sister, the nurses in the hospital had to revive her before an angry Jennet poured out venom on her and their mother. She used unprintable words to describe the duo in their native language. Not done with them she went into pidgin English, “this wicked woman you no go die better, devil will kill you and this useless mama wey wan take my pikin do juju. You no be my sister again, from today I am taking my pikin back to Akwa Ibom, and when I get there I will tell our people all you did to my child. In your life never come to this woman (pointing to Mrs. Williams) to look for Mary. And never you look for me again, our relationship is finished”. For six years, you took away my child, and cut off communication from me. Any time you wan call me na for business centre. You lied that you have no phone, because you dey use my pikin to collect money. All the money you chop for Mary head will make you sick, and the sickness will chop all the money back”. Unless no be me born Mary all the thing I say today will happen to you in Jesus name amen.

The crowd that gathered to watch the scene was enraged to the extent that they wanted to lynch the evil woman and her partners in crime but for the timely intervention of the police on patrol that came as a result of the large number of people that were attracted to the hospital, by Jennet’s noise.

Today, Mary is back in the house of the Williams and the mother went back to the village refusing to collect a dime as monthly allowance, like was the case with Madam Ekaite, but only begged the Williams to regard Mary as their own daughter, help me train her in school. She promised to be visiting them from time to time or whenever they need her. Mary has since resumed schooling with the children of the Williams.