For Mrs. Maria Odeh, a 2004 Theatre Arts graduate of Benue State
University, her joy overflowed when she got married to her 37-year-old
heartthrob, Joseph Odeh in April, 2007, shortly after completion of the
mandatory national youth service scheme.
She met her hubby in Kano, where she was deployed for the programme, and
was consumed by a sizzling love affair which transformed to marriage in
no distant time. As she signed the dotted lines on the altar, thoughts
of an uninterrupted and lively union overwhelmed her, as she danced to
the glory of God for giving her a man of her dreams.
That was the situation for several years as the couple settled down at
Akwanga, Nasarawa State, and Maria professed her husband’s true love to
friends and relations at any opportunity. Her only worry was that she is
unable to bear a child, years after their marriage. The couple had
sought medical help at the General Hospital, Akwanga, where Joseph was
said to have been diagnosed of low sperm count which was treated and
normalized in three months.
Maria said though doctors certified her reproductive organs okay after
conducting series of tests, she was unable to conceive thereafter. Her
consolation, however, was that her spouse did not betray signs of
desperation and frustration as the search for the fruit of the womb
continued.
However, indications that her luck had been stretched to the limits
manifested seven years into the marriage, but she least expected the
events that unfolded.
“About three years back, precisely towards the end of 2013, my husband
suddenly lost interest in me. Whenever I touched him at night, he gave
me one complaint or another. It is either he is tired or not in the
mood”, she recalled in an interview with Saturday Sun.
Unknown to her, Joseph was engaged in a secret romance with Joy Agbo,
her 24-year-old younger sister who she relocated earlier in the year
from her village in Ogbadibo Local Government Area of Benue State to
live with them at Akwanga. In her determination to ensure she played her
expected role after the demise of their mother, Maria secured admission
for her sibling at the College of Education, Akwanga, to study Business
Education.
Unfortunately, rather than concentrate on her studies, Joy indulged in
illicit sexual affair with her sisters’ hubby. She was away from home
daily from dawn to dusk, having secured a job with Patriotic Health
Organization, a non-governmental outfit. She had been unemployed for
several years, during which she sold second-hand clothes.
Last month, Maria was jolted to the realisation that her beloved husband
had betrayed the love and trust she invested in him by not only having
an affair with Joy, but also impregnating her. To worsen matters, her
husband is resolute on marrying her younger sister, and has shown her a
red card if she is unwilling to accept his weird idea.
“In August 2016, I got a job with an NGO as secretary and most
times, had to leave home very early in the morning for either Keffi or
Lafia, as the job demanded, and closed late by 7.pm.
I didn’t know how it happened, but in June this year, I noticed that
my younger sister’s breasts increased in size and she looked very
heavy. On a close examination, I discovered she was four months pregnant
and when I probed further, she told me Joe was responsible for it.
I asked her which Joe? She said your own Joe, my husband, but I did
not believe it. When I confronted my husband at night, he confirmed it
and went ahead to tell me he would marry her; he said if I can’t
tolerate it, I should pack my belongings and go.
I screamed and cried, and almost died of shock; I immediately called
my people on phone and told them what has happened”, she said, sobbing.
Confused
Maria says the situation threw her into confusion on her inability to
conceive for her husband, more so, as doctors had certified her fertile,
and she had no cause to discreetly seek proof through an extra marital
affair.
“Even my people are as confused as I am; they keep calling me to ask
what I wanted to do. After wide consultations with my friends, I am
considering divorce.
But I will re-marry if I find a genuine person, I can’t stay alone; I
need a gentle man to settle down. I will soon file a divorce suit so
that I can start a new life; I will definitely remarry if an honest man
comes my way, though I won’t be in a hurry,” she said.
It’s divine, says hubby
While Maria is traumatized, her husband has no qualms even as he pointed
at the devil for committing the act, which in another breathe, he
described as divine.
Last week, Joseph affirmed his resolve to marry his sister-in-law in a chat with our correspondent.
“I have told my wife that I am responsible for the pregnancy of her
sister, and now that she is pregnant for me, she cannot abort it, though
it was the devil’s work; if she is not comfortable with it, she can go.
We have been married for 10 years, no child; if her people want me
to pay the pride price for Joy, I will do it. It is unfortunate, but
that is the reality. I’m not a womanizer; I don’t drink beer, ask my
friends.
I don’t keep girlfriends outside; I don’t know how it happened, but
my affair with Joy is divine intervention”, he emphasized.
But his father-in-law, Clement Agbo, has declared his unwillingness to dine with the devil, not even with a long spoon.
“We are not in support of what happened, and cannot collect bride
price again, from him. I lack words to express my feelings, but I have
asked Maria to file a divorce suit; she can’t stay in that house again.
For me, I have disowned Joy; she is no longer my daughter.
If their mother was alive, she would have supported my position.
What Joy and Joseph did is an abomination in our tradition; let them
stay together. It is only God that will resolve this shameful matter”,
he told Saturday Sun on telephone.
How it happened – Joy
Like Joseph, Joy is also unperturbed over the incident, and is prepared for the worst.
“I deeply sympathise with my sister, but Joe told me not to worry about
anything, that the issue will be resolved. Since my sister is ready to
divorce him, I will keep the pregnancy”, she said, as she gave a
blow-by-blow account of how it all happened. Hear her:
“It started precisely on February 17, this year. That afternoon,
when my sister had gone to work and her husband came home from his shop
to pick up some items.
I was sleeping in the sitting room, and because I was not expecting
any of them to return home soon, I didn’t put on pants and my chest was
open; in fact I was naked because I was feeling hot. I suddenly slept
off, but forgot to lock the entrance door and Joe came in unexpectedly.
Though I was asleep I guess when he saw me naked, he must have been moved to a point that he couldn’t control his libido.
Before I realised it, he was already on me with his lip on my
breast; my efforts to push him off me failed, and he had sex with me.
Before then, he used to take me out to supermarkets, and fast food
spots; we became very close, but he never approached me and I didn’t
expect such from him, though he kept telling me he was desperate to talk
with me.
After that afternoon sex, he knelt down and begged me not to tell
anybody; he said it was the devil’s work, but I cried and vowed to tell
my sister when she returned; he begged me and promise not to do it
again.
That day, he gave me N20, 000 for my shopping, and I promised him I wouldn’t tell anybody about what happened.
I don’t know what came over me, as if it was a dream. A few days
after, he invited me for an outing and somehow, convinced me and we
started making love regularly, as if it was a charm.
We were madly in love, and he bought a mobile phone worth N40, 000
for me. At night when he is in his room with his wife, I will be
chatting with him from my room; somehow, I became pregnant for him.
I do not intend to abort the pregnancy because the harm has already
been done; I apologised to my sister, but she doesn’t talk to with me
any longer. I don’t know what is on her mind, but for me, I will deliver
the baby and further my education to the university.
I deeply sympathise with my sister, but Joe told me not to worry
about anything, that the issue will be resolved. Since my sister is
ready to divorce him, I will keep the pregnancy; my people are not in
support of what I’m doing but they have no choice. It is not my wish,
but that is the reality. For me, I love Joseph because he is caring and
lovely”.
To be sure, these are trying times for Maria as darkness and despondency
set into her once blissful marriage. Things are no longer at ease with
her, Joe and her younger sister, Joy.
Enveloped in a cloud of uncertainty, she spoke of her moments of joy
with Joseph, who also hails from Benue, her home state. Both are of
Idoma extraction.
“After my four year programme in the university, I was posted to Kano
State for my NYSC, where Joseph who had earlier completed his service
and was working as farm manager at Wodi Farms where he served and was
retained.
I fell in love with him, because he has a charming personality; he
exuded an air of confidence, and his poise was breathtaking.
He swept me off my feet right from the first day I met him at a
market in Kano. We became lovers and our days of beautiful romance were
the happiest moments of my life; I was on top of the world and really
acted like a girl in love.
I married him and was the happiest woman on earth; I love him and he
loved me too, but suddenly, all that crashed in one irrational moment”,
she lamented.
Sun News
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