"I and my children were beaten and kicked out of our house by the
brothers-in-law. We live by begging, in continual fear"
Stories
The treatment given to Widows in Nigeria
This account was emailed to us by a young woman now living in London.
I am writing this note on behalf of my mother who does not have access to a computer, nor know how to operate one; however she wishes for justice and awareness to be taken of what she has just experienced. She does not know about such organization as yours, but because I do know, I am willing to help her with it. As I write, she is with her relatives in Imo State Nigeria, taking refuge with my younger brothers and sisters. But our family lives in Lagos, Nigeria.
My daddy died on in August 2006. He died while on duty at work (he was a security guard). As he was seated, he was thought to be asleep on duty but he was in fact dead. The autopsy stated he had suffered a sudden attack of hypertension because he did not know that his blood pressure had been rising.
My mother, with my siblings and my daddy's elder brother, Mr.X, along with other people accompanied the corpse to our village later in August 2006. My daddy was to be buried the next day but on that his brothers and sister, Mr.X, Mr.Y, and Mrs Z arranged with other members of the Azubuikes of Duruigbo clan in Imo State to stop the burial. My uncle X said to my first brother and my mother that they should bring out all the money my father has, because his daughter (me) lives abroad. He said that my daddy has gotten a lot of money from me and that my mum and younger siblings have killed my daddy so that only they will benefit from whatever comes from me.
In the full view of the public, including people of other tribes who came from Lagos to our village to witness the burial, my uncle pulled off the clothes my younger brother had dressed up my daddy's corpse in, desecrated the body, rummaging my daddy's stomach, saying that he was searching for some parts of his body, in case they had been used for money making. Eventually he stopped because, as all present could see, everything was intact and the way the mortuary workers and hospital had left the corpse.
My uncle Y went to hire mobs and touts who carried sticks and weapons to clobber my mother and siblings with. My uncle X gathered all the women of the Duruigbo clan who carried firewood and canes to beat my mum with. My younger brother, B, who is the first son of my daddy, insisted that he wanted to bury my daddy on that same day, but my uncle refused. Three men from my village intervened and asked for the burial to take place and all the trouble to stop at once but my uncle X refused. My brother asked when they wanted him buried but my uncle said he wasn’t thinking about any burial anymore and told him to go away. My uncle with others then seized the corpse, put it back in the coffin and asked the ambulance that brought it from Lagos to take it back to a mortuary situated near our village.
They chased my mother and her family away; for safety they ran into the bus that brought them from Lagos. My mother's family, who came for the burial as well, took my mum and siblings back with them to their house so that they could take refuge and at least be safe.
My mum and B reported the case to different police commission zones in Imo State. They got information that my dad was to be buried on Friday, though none of them was formally informed, so they went to the village, but the date was then again shifted, in the hope that they would perform the burial in the absence of my family. However, this did not deter anyone. My mum, younger ones and all the rest of the people that accompanied them all stayed over till Saturday morning ... there was lots of friction, initiated by my father's people, but then they saw that even my mum and younger ones were really out for them that day. They all attended the mass, and later on went to our compound where my dad was finally laid to rest.
From WRI Newsletter 8 - Full copies of the Newsletter available from WRI office or download PDF