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BACK AT LAST: Uche carrying the last
of his three sets of twins after he returned to their new home in Ogun State...yesterday.
Photo: Precious Igbonwelundu
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The father of the multiple twins who fled from his home
and expectant wife has shown up – three months after.
Mr. Emeka Uche, after
days of persuasion by his wife Ruth yesterday returned to a new home – a
yet-to-be-painted mini-flat in Ogun State.
The Nation report
continues:
The Uches used to
stay in Agege on the outskirts of Lagos. Mrs. Uche, a teacher, had two sets of
twins. Another set came in February.
Just as this reporter
was about to leave her apartment, she came face to face with a light
complexioned man wearing an Arsenal jersey, a pair of jeans and slippers, holding
two polythene bags.
He looked confused,
uttered no word, save for the exchange of pleasantries and made to move away
when Hope, the Uches’ former neighbour, saw him.
“Papa ejima (father
of twins), where are you coming from? So you are still alive? Please come
inside and sit down,” she exclaimed.
Upon hearing ‘Papa
ejima’, Mrs Uche rushed to the door. She didn’t run into his arms to hug or
kiss him, but stood and watched him for some minutes after offering him one of
the plastic seats in the living room.
But he did not sit
down, rather, he went straight for his newborn babies. He was seeing the three
months olds for the first time.
Uche held both on
each arm, smiling and then collapsed into the blue chair, admiring them.
Still looking at the
babies, he asked: “Where are my other children? How are you people?”
Hope told Uche that
the other children were at her aunt’s house not too far from the neighbourhood.
After about seven
minutes when Mrs. Uche seemed to have regained her composure, she entered the kitchen,
brought sachet water in a silver steel plate and offered it to her husband who
refused to collect it.
After much persuasion
from all the women in the room, Uche finally collected the water and from the
way he gulped it, it was obvious he was very thirsty.
As Mrs. Uche sat down
on one of the children’s plastic chairs, she asked her husband if he was back
for good.
“God I thank you for
answering my prayers. So, you are here. You look emaciated. You have lost so much
weight. I hope you have come back for good. Please, do not leave us again,” she
told Uche, who did not reply.
Having allowed him
play with his babies and relaxed for about 20 minutes, this reporter, reminded
Uche of their several telephone discussions.
He said: “Like I told
you on phone, it was not easy for me. I contemplated suicide on several
occasions. I cannot believe I am here, holding my kids for the first time since
they were born three months ago.
“When I left, I
initially went to the village where I spent a month. After that, I came back to
Lagos but stayed with my friend around Oko-Oba in Agege. I still live with him.
“I know that I was
not far from them, but I just did not want to return without a better solution
on how to cater to my home. I was ashamed too to come back to that house to see
them after I’d abandoned them and run away.
“But after our
discussions and my wife told me that they had moved, I went to our old house
and asked one of the neighbours who had been here for direction so that I could
come and see them,” he said, shaking his head.
Finding the Uches
The road to the
Uches’ new home was anything but smooth. For a journey that began shortly after
mid-day, it took this reporter about two hours to get to the community and
another one hour 30 minutes more, wandering around the locality until the
parties eventually met at a bus stop.
After the exchange of
pleasantries, an excited Mrs. Uche who said she secured a shop and would soon
start trading in foodstuff, took this reporter to see her new home.
Situated in a
developing area, the newly built bungalow has three flats.
Although not painted
yet, the house is in a relatively peaceful community. Mrs. Uche seems to have
made some friends already.
Inside her apartment,
the parlour and toilet are neatly tiled. The bedroom and kitchen are cemented.
The apartment is
neat, though lacking in basic furniture, which prompted the arrangement of
their unpacked luggage-clothes, foodstuff and kitchen utensils- on the floor in
the bedroom and kitchen.
There was relative
quiet, but for the tick of the wall clock and occasional cry of her baby. The
new residence is a far improvement on the old one.
Noting that she was
eternally grateful to the Lagos State Government and all those who have changed
her story, Mrs. Uche said she was yet to consider the school which her children
would attend.
“Would I have ever
lived in this kind of house with my family and I having a toilet and kitchen to
ourselves? I moved in here on Sunday and I am so happy and grateful.
“Aunty, come and see
our bedroom; have you seen the toilet? See our kitchen. See me now! I have a
room and parlour self-contained. What more can I want, except for my husband to
come and enjoy this good life with me?
“People who used to
laugh at us for not having food to eat can now see how God works. Even my
mother-in-law who has not called me for so long now calls me. I am just so
thankful to God because he did not allow me and my children die in shame.
“I have promised God
that I will do my best to grow my business. I want to grow and be able to help
women with similar case as mine. I want to be able to impact their lives in
future as my life was touched and changed.”
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