A 37-year old widow, Mrs. Chinonye Nwankwo, is now in agony over her inability to bear a male child before she lost her husband four months ago in Lagos.
The mother of four female children has reportedly been chased away from her husband’s house and all her husband’s properties taken away by members of the family. She was asked to surrender the properties because they claimed that she had no stake in the family over her inability to bear a male child before her husband died.
P.M.Express confirmed that the embittered woman is now helpless including the children barely four months after her husband, Uchenna, died of undisclosed illness.
The late Uchenna Nwankwo before his demise was a successful spare parts dealer at Olapeju Street in Ladipo Market in Mushin, Lagos. He hailed from Eziagu Local Government while his wife is from Nkanu all in Enugu State. They got married several years ago and had the four female children before he fell sick and died.
However, the family’s fortune changed after he died and his younger brothers namely Chidi, Elochukwu and Onyeka, reportedly summoned his wife to take an oath that she will hand over all the properties her husband had left behind over to them.
According to Mrs. Chinonye, she declined and they told her that she will die within seven days if she did not comply with their directives. Eventually, her own mother died within those seven days due to the pressure. She said after the burial, she returned to Lagos. Her brothers-in-law were said to have gone to her husband’s shops at Olateju Street in Mushin at about 5am, broke the keys to the two shops, carried all the goods in the shops worth over N20m and escaped.
The matter was reported to the police and one of the suspects identified as Chidi was arrested and some of the goods were recovered at FESTAC Town in Lagos where they were taken to.
It was gathered that the husband’s brothers are insisting that Mrs. Chinonye must hand over to them all her husband’s properties in their village including the choice properties in Lagos otherwise there will be no peace.
Following the threat, an Igbo socio-cultural group in Lagos known as Igbo Buru Out, has stepped into the matter in support of Mrs. Chinonye and her children, insisting that the woman has right to inherit her husband’s properties to enable her train their children.
Information available to P.M.Express is that the matter has now been moved over to Zone 2 Command, Onikan to the AIG following a petition written on her behalf through her lawyer over threat to her life.
This was confirmed by the President of Igbo Buru Otu, Chief C.C. Nwokedi, who strongly condemned the action of the family. Chief Nwokedi noted that the late Uchenna Nwankwo was legally married to Chinonye and they had four female children before he died.
He said that the family only hinged their claims on the fact that there was no male child; he explained that such obnoxious tradition does not exist again as the Court in Nigeria has stated clearly that women have rights to inherit their father’s property in Igbo land.