Woman flees abroad to escape marriage with hubby’s son

Emeka Ibemere

She was too young when she was married to a fifty eight year-old Community Chief, who already had four wives in Bayaro town, Kano State.

seven years after her marriage with Hakim Abubakar, which produces one issue, Abubakar died of heart failure and her problem began: the first son of the man, Moussa Hakim Abubakar, born by the first wife of the late chief moved in to ‘inherit’ his father’s property; including Esther Gift Odumodu, 23.

But it was against her will. She took off with her little daughter, Amina Hakim who she also named Rejoice and off she returned back to where she began-in her father’s home.

According to Esther’s younger brother, a security man with Oil and Gas company in Lagos, Earnest Odumodu, her sister left her matrimonial home when the first son of her late husband wanted to take over her as his own second wife after the death of his father, but Esther refused to that arrangement and returned to their home with her little daughter.

 Earnest told Daily Newswatch that her sister, who was born in Edo state on September, 16 1990 grew up in Kano State, in a rustic village of Bayaro.

Their father, elder Matthew Odumodu out of poverty gave Easter out in marriage when she was 14 years, out of her mother’s opposition to the marriage.

A little while after approving the mar

riage, their father died and everything about Esther’s education abruptly ended because nobody could pay her school fees. Esther got married to Hakim Abubakar and had one child for him before the man died in 2009.

“She dropped out of school but our mother persuaded her to follow the man so that the man will fund her education. She accepted against her wish to marry the old man but because we don’t have money, our mother begged her to marry the chief so that she will finish her education,” Earnest Odumodu stated.

Earnest said trouble started with her sister when she turned off Moussa’s marriage proposals which made the son of the late Esther’s husband to start making trouble with their family over the refusal of Esther to return to her matrimonial.

And because of the trouble; Esther left their home and fled to France through the help of her friend’s father where she has vowed not to return back to Nigeria for fear of attack by her late husband’s son who is impatient to marry her as second wife.

One thing that irritated Esther about the marriage was that when her husband died, her hair was shaved as the tradition demanded. He said a day was fixed for her sister to be circumcised before Moussa could be married to her because she was not a Muslim by birth but before that day, Esther disappeared from the house with her daughter and relocated to Lagos where she stayed with her friend.

It was gathered that Moussa sent a search party after her to her Benin City family house to fetch her but that they couldn’t get her. He said his mother told them that she doesn’t know the whereabouts of her daughter just to deceive them in order to safe my life.

“After sometimes, my mother called her on phone to tell her what was going and how they have been harassing her concerning her whereabouts and that of her daughter but my mother refused to tell them. She feared that she might tell them and it will become problem for her,” Earnest said.

According to Earnest, the father of her sister’s friend accepted to help her sister to travel out of the country when the heat was becoming unbearable. He said the man promised to help her alone because he doesn’t have enough money to fund her and her daughter. The man however helped her procured visa.

“Before she travelled my sister begged her friend to take her daughter to my mother in Kano State, but her friend’s dad advised her to leave the little girl in Lagos because if she should take the baby to my mother, that they would know that my mother knew about her whereabouts and begin to disturb her”, Earnest  Odumodu added.

Earnest said things were so difficult for the family in Kano State which even forced him to relocate to Lagos just few years ago. According to him, their mother has also relocated to Benin City due to the activities of Boko Haram in the Northern part of Nigeria.

He said the attack on the northern states by members of Boko Haram on mainly non-Muslims forced her mother and their other siblings to relocate to Benin for safety. Boko Haram has devastated the economy, social, religious and academic life in the north forcing thousands of Nigerians to flee the zones in droves.

Earnest explained that her sister’s daughter was still in Lagos with her sister’s friend and that the girl is seriously itching to reunion with her mother.