Agony of widowhood in Igboland

*Increasing cases of deprivation of widows

*Urge South-East Govs, monarchs to end the obnoxious treatment

*Men should prepare their will before they pass on-Abia monarch

*Traditional rulers should rise against the practice-community leader

*Widowhood practices in Igbo land are degrading, nauseating, uncharitable- Archbishop Ugorji

By Anayo Okoli, Vincent Ujumadu, Chidi Nkwopara, Dennis Agbo, Steve Okoh, Chimaobi Nwaiwu, Nwabueze Okonkwo, Chinonso Alozie, Ugochukwu Alaribe & Emmanuel Iheaka

Thirty-seven-year old Mrs. Chinenye Okonkwo, a mother of five children, recently cried out for help over what she is going through in the hands of her husband’s brother.

Mrs. Okonkwo, wife of the late Livinus Okonkwo, who died in 2017, said she has known no peace in the hands of her late husband’s brother, who has evicted her from her late husband’s home.

The widow, from Umuodiliogu kindred of Umunakwa Ifite village, Oraifite in Ekwusigo Local Government Area of Anambra State, lamented that apart from evicting her, her husband’s brother has allegedly forcefully taken possession of the blocks moulded by her late husband.

Mrs. Okonkwo said all efforts by the entire Umuodiliogu kindred to stop him from evicting her from her late husband’s home failed. She now lives in a rented apartment in the community with her children.

She said: “My husband died in 2017 at the age of 45. Since then, his brother, Boniface Okonkwo, popularly known as ‘Overheat,’ has encroached into my late husband’s land. He carried the entire blocks my husband had moulded and used them for his own house.

“When I confronted him, he boldly said he had used them. After several attempts of resisting him, he forcefully ejected me from my husband’s house using thugs.

“He asked me to leave and that I should go and look for someone else to marry me since I am still young. Right now, I have become homeless and also struggling to pay both house rent and children’s school fees.”

Mrs. Chinenye Okonkwo is not the only widow with a bizzare experience after her husband passed on. Indeed, cases of widows being deprived of their husbands’ property and rights, particularly by the family members, are on the increase in communities in Igbo land.

There are daily reports of such incidents which subject the widows and their children to agony and hardship. In some instances, they don’t even wait for the remains of their brother to be committed to mother earth before scrambling for the ownership of his property and other rights.

FIDA, other women groups, community leaders intervene

Mrs. Okonkwo also said despite the intervention of many community leaders, the International Federation of Female Lawyers, FIDA, and Women Cooperative Group, established by Sir Emeka Offor Foundation, SEOF, the brother in-law refused to release her husband’s landed property to her.

The Chairman of Umuodilogu kindred, Chief Francis Okafor, corroborated the widow’s story and condemned the actions of the brother in-law.

According to him, the community has waded into the matter and the man, Boniface Okonkwo, is currently in police custody in connection with a petition written against him by another member of the family simply identified as Ogilisi Igbo.

Speaking on the development, Coordinator of Sir Emeka Offor Foundation, Sir Anthony Obi disclosed that the foundation has nominated the widow among those that would benefit from the third phase of the foundation’s Touch-A-Life Housing Project, which provides houses to the less privileged.

According to Obi, “We are being careful, we don’t want to start construction on a disputed land. We are also being careful, we want the case to be resolved amicably so that by the time the woman and her children move into the building, they will have rest of mind.”

Mrs. Ogechi Izuka, leader of the widows under SEOF, said she led Mrs. Okonkwo to FIDA to lay her complaints, and they are taking action.

“This fight is not only for Chinenye and her children, but for all Oraifite and Anambra women, and Igbo women at large, who have been subjected to similar maltreatment that is bringing bad name to us as a people. We urge well meaning Igbo men and women not to allow this kind of maltreatment of women to spread across Igbo land,” she admonished.

Anambra State Police Command confirmed that Boniface Okonkwo was in police custody over a petition against him.

We should rise against the practice — Abia monarch

Notable Abia monarch, Enachoken Abiriba Ancient Kingdom, Eze Kalu Kalu Ogbu condemned the act in strong terms. He attributed it to greed. He said no Igbo tradition supports such obnoxious treatment against widows. Eze Ogbu described such inhuman treatment as wickedness which is not part of Igbo tradition.

He said: “No tradition accepts that. Wickedness is not part of our tradition. If you see people doing that, then something is wrong. If you interrogate it, you will simply discover that greed is the underlying factor.

“Our tradition here in Abiriba has roles for everybody. Everybody has what he can inherit according to our native laws and customs,” he explained.

“The problem now is not even members of the extended family, but the widow and her children that are scrambling for everything; sometimes, they don’t even allow their husband and father to be buried before they start dragging and grabbing everything.

“The way forward is that every man should know his responsibilities both to his immediate family and extended family. If you are from Abiriba, for example, you already know your responsibilities to your immediate family and extended family especially your Ikwu, from your maternal side.

“So, before, you pass on, you should prepare your will, and tell us how you want your wealth to be shared when you are no longer there.”

Reacting, former Chairman, Council of Traditional Rulers, Umuahia North, Eze Philip Ajomuiwe, also condemned the harmful practice. He, however, noted that it is not common in his community, and advised traditional rulers in various communities to rise against the practice.

Widowhood practices are degrading, nauseating, uncharitable – Archbishop Ugorji

Speaking on the issue, President of Catholic Bishops Conference of Nigeria, CBCN, Most Rev. Lucius Ugorji, condemned harmful and degrading widowhood practices in Igbo land.

He said: “It is most nauseating and indeed inexplicable, unchristian and uncharitable, to behold what most widows experience in virtually all parts of Igbo land in this day and age.

“Many are treated as if they killed their husbands. Stories are told of how some women are made to drink the water used in cleaning their late husband’s body, as a way of showing that they had no hands in whatever killed their husbands.

“Many women are denied inheritances from their paternal and husband’s homes. Many are chased away from the house the women jointly built with their husbands. It is even surprising that our supposed educated people are neck deep into this harmful practice.

“Honestly, I think the practice has to stop. It is not a good collective testimonial for Ndigbo. This senseless degradation of our women must stop.”

Former Anambra lawmaker, Mrs. Anthonia Tabansi bemoaned a sitution where widows are subjected to some humiliating cultural practices. She said: “In some cases, they are forced to drink water used in washing the corpse of their late spouse. In some other cases, they are compelled to sleep on the same bed as the corpse of the husband.

“Sometimes women are confined to a single room for a period of time after their husband’s death, or forced to marry a relative.”

There was a case of a woman from Ogbaru Local Government Area, who was even being maltreated by her own brothers after running away from her late husband’s relations due to the same maltreatment.

The widow, Elizabeth Uzor explained: “This particular issue started when someone died in our neighbourhood and like other members of the community, I was invited to the burial which made me sleep over at our family compound. I was surprised to be called up around 5.30am by my uncle and brothers, who were accompanied by masquerades.

“They forced me to dress up and I was accompanied by everyone around, alongside the masquerade, and was marched out of the community, with my brothers and other relations warning me never to step foot in our house again.”

It took the intervention of the Commissioner for Women Affairs, Mrs. Ify Obinabo to get justice for her in court.

In Amuro, Okigwe, in Imo State, there is no act of deprivation of widows that is tolerated as a widow automatically steps into ownership of the estate of her husband, explained Prince Christopher Muo.

“In Amuro, Okigwe, there is no customary law on deprivation of widows. In my community, the widow automatically steps into ownership of the estate of her husband and can sell his land validly; alhough we advise that Letters of Administration be obtained for legality sake,” he said.

Vanguard Media Limited