Seeks help to regain sight
BY AGNES NWORIE, ABAKALIKI
A blind and homeless widow, Nkechinyere Ugo, has solicited for financial assistance to appease the gods of her land in order for her and four of her children to regain their sight.
Ugo, mother-of-six from Oshiegbe Umuezekoha in Ezza North Local Government Area of Ebonyi State, who was born blind, attributed her dilemma to atrocities that were reportedly committed by her grandfather against the deity of their land.
According to Ugo, after her birth, her father consulted a soothsayer to ascertain the cause of her blindness.
It was revealed that the atrocities of her grandfather were visited upon her. Her father was told that until the deity is appeased, Ugo and her blind children would remain blind.
She alleged that the deity demanded two goats with other listed items, but her father and husband (now dead) were unable to offer the sacrifice in order to appease the god.
To overcome her ordeal, she appealed to well-meaning Nigerians to assist her so as to be able to see and cater for her children.
On how they survive, Ugo explained that her other two children who are not blind usually take her and her other children to the streets to beg for alms.
The homeless woman and her six children were seen begging for alms by the roadside around Saint Theresa’s Catholic Cathedral in Abakaliki, the state capital.
During their patrol, the Ebonyi State Environmental Monitoring Team evacuated the woman and her children from the spot where they beg for alms to the state rehabilitation centre in Abakaliki for medical attention.
In an interview with the Commissioner for Women Affairs and Social Development in the state, Chinwe Okah, on the development, she said that Governor David Umahi directed that the woman and her children should be given medical attention regarding their physical impairment.
Okah said, “We interacted with the woman and the children after we brought them from St. Theresa Cathedral. Governor of Ebonyi State, David Umahi, constituted an Executive Council Committee on monitoring. In the process of monitoring, we saw the blind children and their mother where they were lying at night, in an open place. The woman said that she had no home; she is from Ezza North and she is blind with six children – four of them are blind while two others are not.
“We reported the issue to his Excellency who directed that we should bring the woman with her children to the rehabilitation centre. The governor has approved some money to start taking care of them with their medical bill. We have bought things for them and they are feeding very well. The medical doctor that will take their medical records will come to diagnose them for adequate medical attention especially on their eyes.
“I don’t believe what she was saying about deity but we shall ensure that she and her children get proper medical attention by God’s grace and they will regain their sight,” she said.
The Permanent Secretary in the state Ministry of Women Affairs and Social Development, applauded the efforts of the administration to assuage the plight of widows and the downtrodden from abject poverty and diseases.
The widow said that her family deity must be appeased by offering goats and other ritual items. She told The Point that her husband died shortly after an illness while planning to buy goats for the sacrifices.
Ugo, who spoke in Igbo Language, said, “I and my children came to St. Theresa from Otegirigwe Oshiegbe in Ezza North Local Government Area of the state in May 2020 to Abakaliki. I was born blind but my first daughter is not. According to findings, my grandfather offended our ancestral deity. Some elders listed items, including goats to be used to appease the gods. This was not done until my father and my husband fell sick and died.
“It has been difficult for us to eat daily. Whenever somebody brought food for those of us at St. Theresa’s Cathedral, those that had their sight would scramble and finish the food. During the Yuletide period, many people brought food and other items to us in the spirit of the birth of Christ and the New Year. You know, other beggars are there. Just a few of what was brought got to me and my children due to my blindness.
“My first daughter, who is not blind, takes her blind sisters to the streets to beg for alms; that is how we have been surviving.
“God visited us recently through Governor David Umahi. We can sleep in a house and eat good food now. I still believe that when that deity is appeased, we shall regain our sight.”
