MUST READ!!! The Sad Story Of How A 23-Year Old Pregnant Igbo Lady Died

The look on his face said it all, and it was a look with many emotions rolled up in one.
Each of his words was laced with a deep sense of grief, despair, and confusion; he had lost his woman and his first son in one day. Buchi Eze, 30, stood awkwardly on the edge of
the pit, where his woman, Blessing, had fallen to her death. She was 23 years old and was eight months pregnant.

Perhaps, Eze's confusion overrode other emotions as he told his story because only a day before, Blessing had just returned home from a hospital, where she was on admission for four days after falling inside a pit beside the one in which she had taken her last fall.
"I am confused; I don't understand how my woman fell inside the pits twice in one week," he said with a look that seemed to be seeking for answers in the air.
"Her death was painful and I don't think it was
natural. The pits have been there for a long time and she met them here when she moved in with me in January, so how did she fall inside the pits twice in six days? She was not mentally unstable and did not show any suicidal tendencies.
"All the children in the compound pass there always and none of them has fallen inside before, so I am still confused. After she fell inside one of the pits the first time, I dismissed it as a mistake, but after the second one, I concluded that it was not natural."
The couple shared a rented room in an uncompleted building on Akinola Street in Lusada community, Ado-Odo/Ota Local Government Area of Ogun State, until the incident.
Both pits were meant to serve as septic tank and soak away for the adjoining house but because there was no fence separating the buildings, Eze and other occupants of the house only had to walk about two metres from their backyard door to reach the edge of the pits.
Both pits had been overgrown by weeds after being abandoned since 2012.
Eze had not slept in the house since the incident
occurred because he was afraid of what memories of Blessing and all they shared would come with. He feared the worst; he was frightened that they would bring nightmares and more tears.
Since Blessing's death, Eze has been having goose pimples every now and then, so he concluded that her spirit still hovered nearby.
Eze's curiosity was also piqued by Blessing's last words to him after he had jumped in the pit to save her.
"I was on my way home when I heard that my woman was in pit the second time," he said.
"When I got there, I saw my woman lying face down in the pit again. She was sleeping gently when I left home. She lay on the ground face down. People were holding me but I jumped inside the pit.
"As I raised her head up, she seemed to regain
consciousness. I said 'why again? Do you want to kill me? She said she did not know how she got there,and that she just realised where she was as we were talking."
First fall The first incident occurred at around 6pm on Monday, July 25, 2016, while Eze was away at a mill in Agbara, an industrial estate, where he used to hustle for casual labour for N850 a day.
"Around the time the first incident occurred, I was at the flour mill and I started having a strange feeling that something bad was happening," he said. "I was getting angry for no reason at all and about 30 minutes later, my neighbour called me on the phone to say that I should return home immediately.
"When I got home, I saw my woman lying down
beside one of the pits. She had been brought out. I was told that she fell inside the pit. I asked one of my neighbours to take her to the hospital while I tried to withdraw money from the Automated Teller Machine.
The woman helped me take her to the hospital. The doctor rejected her and said he could not handle the case. Then she was taken to another hospital, where she was accepted and treated well. Some pastors also prayed for her and she was okay. We were in the hospital for four days and then the doctor said she needed blood and that it would cost me N20, 000.
"I did not have the money, and I told the doctor I was expecting some money- N30,000, so he said I should take her home and bring her back anytime I had the money. I planned to buy her blood tonic and fruits pending when I would be able to take her back to the hospital.
"We returned home on Friday, July 29, and ate and played together. She bathed and said she felt okay. We prayed and slept. We did a scan and the baby was said to be fine- a bouncing baby boy.
Second fall
"On Saturday morning, I boiled some water for her and after she bathed, she said she wanted to eat and I gave her food. It was Lusada market day. So I left to buy her some fruits so that she could use that to replenish till when the money I was expecting would come.
"Then, I had an ominous feeling again. I said what kind of sign is this? So I started going home. By the time I approached the house, I heard people shouting. When I got home, I saw my woman lying down in the pit again."
Blessing was taken to the hospital again but before midnight, she and her baby were confirmed dead.
"The doctor said he would remove the baby to try to save her and I said no problem, let my woman just be okay," Eze continued.
"After the doctor removed the baby, we saw that he was dead. I think the problem was serious because she hit her tummy on ground when she fell. Then my woman went into a coma and started vomiting blood from her mouth and nose. Everyone was shouting,even the doctor said he had never seen anything like it.
"He tried and tried to save her but couldn't. We called
her name, she didn't answer but her eyes remained
open. She was not talking but blood was coming out
of her mouth. I was calling her people to tell them
what was happening. By 11.30, the generator went
out and by the time they put it back on, she took her
last breath. I touched her, but she did not move
again, she did not talk to me. I was just confused. I
looked at the baby; I looked at her. Both of them
were dead."
When Blessing was alive, Eze said the two of them
had had a playful argument over which s*x they
wanted their baby to be and he was glad when a scan
confirmed his wish to have a boy.
So he named the baby Austin while Blessing said she
would keep her child's name to herself till she was
delivered of the baby.
Eze's parents in Imo State had also been expectant
that finally one of their sons would give them a
grandson, even though one of their daughters
already had a son.
Sadly, Eze used his own hands to bury his first son,
an experience he described as one of his most
painful.
"People had to contribute money for me to take my
woman to the mortuary as I had no money again," he
said.
"The doctor gave me N7, 000 and got me a vehicle to
take her to a mortuary in Badagry. Then I returned to
the hospital to take the baby. I wrapped him in nylon
and prayed for him.
"Then I took him to where I buried him. It was very
painful to use my hands to bury my first child. I never
thought I could find myself in that position. No,
Blessing and I didn't expect this at all when we spoke
fondly about our baby.
"When I pass by couples laughing together now, I
remember her and tears flood my eyes. Also, when I
see someone with a new born baby, I remember my
dead child."
Fighting back tears, Eze said he already missed
Blessing, who he described as his "love and adviser".
He said it was Blessing that had given him some
sanity since he lost his job at the mill, where he used
to work as a contract staff.
"She always advised and encouraged me," he said.
"Anytime I didn't have money, she would assure me
not to worry and that everything would be fine.
Sometimes, we would drink garri together. We would
stroll in the streets, talk and laugh. We ate and
bathed together. Everything about us just matched.
"I was still going to the flour mill daily because
sometimes, if there was shortage of workers, they
would come out to get people to work for N850 for
the day. We were using that to survive. Sometimes
when I had no work to do, I would return home in a
bad mood. But she would encourage me to take it
easy and that things would be fine someday.
"It is also painful she died because she has suffered
with me. So why would she just go like that? She
really tried for me. She would encourage me not to
give up."
Both of Igbo origin from Eastern Nigeria, Eze's
immediate problem is to get Blessing's body to the
East for burial and final rites.
In line with their tradition, Eze is expected to marry
the Blessing as the two had not formalised their
union before her death.
"I almost died when I realised that she was dead," he
said.
"I started thinking of so many things. I understand
the Igbo culture and I knew I was in trouble since I
had not formalised the union, although; I had her
mother's permission to bring her to Lagos. My family
and hers are in the East. My family has gone to her
family house in the village but her family said they
would not say anything till they see their daughter's
body.
"The family is saying that I should bring her body and
that has further compounded my problem. They have
accused me of killing their daughter and that because
we had not formalised the union, I would have to
marry her, do the traditional marriage, pay her
dowry and perform everything I was expected to do if
she was alive. Blessing and I had planned to travel to
the East in December to start preparations to
formalise the union.
"Now I want to get her body to Imo State first, that is
my priority now. I just want to get the money I need
to bury her so that she can rest in peace. It was a
painful death so her spirit will still be roaming the
streets.
"The driver that wants to take the body there wants to
collect N60,000 and the estimate of the amount I
would need to settle the mortuary and get to the east
is N25,000. So I need at least N85,000 to get my
woman's body to the East."
Meanwhile, Eze said even though some of his
neighbours had sympathised with him, the man who
owns the septic tank andthe pit his woman had fallen
into had not done so.
"His wife came to say sorry but the husband did not
come; he does not talk to Igbo people in this area
because we supported former President Goodluck
Jonathan and he supported President Muhammadu
Buhari," he said.
But the neighbour Eze had referred to, Mr. Oyewole
Ogundele, denied Eze's claims, saying he had recently
got a new job that had been taking a lot of his time.
He, however, accused Eze of being rude to him in the
past.
"The lady died in the hospital; she did not die in the
pit," he said.
"He was not taking care of the lady and the first time
the lady fell inside the pit, my wife and I were the
ones who called on other neighbours to force him to
take her to the hospital. He did not want to take her
to the hospital because he did not have money.
"She was rejected by three hospitals before they got
to the hospital that agreed to treat her. The guy did
not have money to pay for her bills. Then the hospital
rejected and he brought the lady home. The lady
needed blood and was not okay.
"According to him, he went to get her fruits when the
second incident occurred, but the lady was looking
for him up and down and imagine somebody that
had shortage of blood roaming up and down, her
eyes would be dizzy.
'That was how she fell inside the pit the second time.
I was not at home when it happened. She died
because there was lack of money to take care of her.
This guy has not talked to me in almost two years,
but the lady was nice to me. She was very nice to me,
but the guy never greeted me. "
On the reason why the septic tank and soak away
were left open, Ogundele said: "I know, I just got a
new job about three weeks ago. Very soon, I will start
work on it. Thank you for your advice. I appreciate.
"When I started the project in 2012, we dug them for
soak away and septic tank but could not complete
them.
"Along the line, we had some challenges. I lost my
job and had some crisis to the extent that I had to
abandon the project and when the landlord was
troubling me and even took me court, I left and
moved into my uncompleted building. It is not as if I
abandoned them (pits), and they are on my land.
"You would see that the house is not plastered, but
very soon, we would complete the soak away and
septic tank."
Another neighbour, who identified himself as Alfa
Saheed, also described Blessing's death as
mysterious, saying "nobody understands how she fell
inside the pits twice."
He also said it could be that Blessing was feeling
dizzy since she was said to have needed blood.
"But Eze didn't take care of the lady; the lady needed
blood," he added. "Even small children play there but
don't fall inside."