|
Agony of a widow
•When my husband died there was no money to bury him and his
father died because there was no money to take him to hospital
From PETRUS OBI, Enugu
Wednesday,
March 9, 2011
The story of Mrs Mary Igwe, a widow and mother of four, is a very
pathetic one. She is the wife of the late Mr Ogbonnaya Igwe, an
auditor and one of the 17 accountants that were dismissed from the
Ebonyi State Civil Service in 2002.
The woman who is in her 40s told Daily Sun that the sack of her
husband from service nine years ago was the beginning of suffering
for her young family. Initially, she said that the family was managing,
but before long it became difficult for them to pay for their rented
apartment in Afikpo.
And by the time her husband died in June last year everything, she
said, collapsed on their head.
Mrs. Igwe who fought hard to hold back tears as she narrated her
ordeal recalled that their problem started with the sack of her
husband who was doing well as an auditor.
Her words: “Since my husband was sacked alongside 17 other
accountants from the state civil service our world turned upside
down; life has become so miserable and difficult that we can no
longer eat well, send our children to school or even pay our house
rent.”
Mrs Igwe, who is a school teacher at the Sir Francis Akanu Ibiam
Grammar School Afikpo, recalled how she was returning to school
one fateful afternoon to meet all her property outside.
Losing our apartment
I called a colleague and a friend who came and started begging our
landlord because that day the landlord pushed us out of the house
because of arrears of rent we owed him.
At 40 years I developed high blood pressure due to hardship, due
to poverty which crept in on us that fateful day my husband came
back with that sad news that finally led to his death; that same
news that made life miserable for me and my children.
My husband’s sack
I can’t forget that day; yes, it was during the short time
the then Speaker of the Ebonyi House of Assembly, who is now a Senator,
Julius Ucha was Acting governor; Governor Sam Egwu was on leave
then; my husband came back, and with that look of dejection in his
eyes, which I can still visualize I knew something was wrong.
He held out the letter and shouted amidst tears, ‘Ucha’
has sacked us; he broke down and I went to him trying to console
him.
I have four children and all of them are supposed to be in school
now, even this one (pointing at her daughter seated next to her),
but they are not in school; when they finish secondary school they
stop because we have free education up to secondary school in the
state; their schooling is a big burden which I cannot do anything
about because one has to be alive first before he can think of going
to school.
How my husband died and plight of the family
The day my husband died we did not even have money to bury him;
in fact, his burial was through charity. People who loved us were
contributing; we have virtually turned to beggars; even my father
in-law, when he took ill, he died because there was no money to
take him to the hospital.
And I know that what happened to my husband was out of frustration;
and his aged mother is still there suffering diabetes and you know
they are normally on diet; but she is there in the house eating
whatever she can lay her hands on, waiting for the day she will
die.
To pay our rent has continuously been a big problem, I have owed
people to a fault; even this morning a woman came for her money,
but I couldn’t pay. These debts are so numerous that if I
start counting them the list will be endless.
To eat three times in this house is almost impossible because I
owe the bank; I told you that I am a school teacher, I had to borrow
from the bank to set off the backlog of our rent, so the bank is
deducting from my salary. When I am paid they make the deduction
and nothing is left; they only leave about N5000 for me.
Will I use N5000 to pay for the house rent, or to buy food? It is
a big problem; every day I go to school on foot; I trek to and from
school on a daily basis; and the high blood pressure which I am
suffering is getting worse, no money for me to buy drugs to sustain
myself; so, I am living now like the woman of Zarephath.
He always told me that the auditor-general said that he embezzled
money, but in the white paper he gave to me there was no money attached
to his name; nothing to show that he worked at a place or office
and embezzled money, nothing like that.
He was so bitter about how he was treated; he also complained that
they were not given fair hearing; and he was pursuing the matter
vigorously in court; but when his pocket went dry he resigned to
fate.
My appeal
My appeal is to Governor Martin Elechi, I know he is a father and
will understand what our family is going through now; it was not
his making, but I believe he can still help us at least by paying
this family what my husband was owed; that will help us settle our
debts.”
Mrs Igwe who said she was still relating with the families of the
other 16 victims disclosed that three of those sacked have died
while one of them is currently blind. “It has not been easy
for all the families and I think it will be proper if the government
can re-visit the issue since most of the people are claiming innocence
of the alleged offences.”
How
to Give Your Woman Earth-Shaking Orgasms. Click Here!
Make
N450,000 Online Monthly. Click Here
Earn
$1,000 weekly, online workers
needed worldwide. Download free e-book
Cure Premature Ejaculation Fast.
No Pills, No Herbs. 100% Natural
|
