‘My wife has mental illness’ Husband of Woman Who Allegedly Chained 10-Year-Old Niece Claims

The nabbed husband of the woman who allegedly chained 10-year-old Promise Udeh who was rescued by the Ogun State police command in the Adigbe area of Abeokuta (read here) has claimed his wife’s partial insanity is responsible for her actions.

The woman, Chiamaka Okafor, said to be her aunt had chained the poor girl who is reportedly notorious for stealing from her guardians and subsequently fleeing, over allegations of stealing N4,000.

Commenting on the case, Acting Police spokesman, Abimbola Oyeyemi, told Sunday Sun,

“Our men at Adigbe received information that a 10-year old girl was tied hands and legs to a burglary proof in an uncompleted building. Upon mobilising our men, the girl told us that her aunt did that to her on the allegation of stealing N4,000.

We consider this as an act of wickedness because in the first instance, the girl is a minor. The girl wouldn’t have taken up stealing if not that she was being starved because it is starvation that makes little children take to stealing. Some parents would say they are go­ing to discipline their children by starving them, not knowing that such would only push them to stealing. The woman has been on the run but, her husband was arrested and has been helping us in our inves­tigations.

The Commissioner of Police, Ahmed Iliasu, is not happy at all with the whole situ­ation. Barely a week ago, a boy was rescued from chains under the guise of wanting to cast out an evil spirit from him. The CP has issued a stern warning to residents that such acts of wickedness won’t be tolerated. It is barbaric and unaccept­able. Now, the CP has ordered a manhunt for the woman so that others in her shoes will learn a lesson. As soon as we conclude our investigation, they (suspects) would be charged to court.”

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However, defending his runaway wife, a 32-year-old mother of four, Sunday Okafor said,

“My wife has mental illness and I have been taking her to different church programmes to seek deliver­ance for her. I have been trying to hide this from people but the truth is that my wife has partial madness and, I have been taking her to different crusades since we got married in 2006. As for Promise, she keeps stealing from us. Times without count, I have been to the police in Adigbe to report her to them but they keep advising me to manage the situation. I can tell you that she has run away from the house up to seven times. Even her teacher in school complains of same thing and punishes her for it. She attends Saint Benedict Primary School, here in Adigbe.

To start with, I never knew she was chained. My wife did. All along, we have been calling on her people in the village to come and pick her, but they kept telling us to hold on till a later date. When I came in the first day and saw that she was chained, I set her loose, but did not know my wife was going to chain her again the next day. I was surprised when I got to the police station and was shown the picture of how Promise was chained. I just want everybody to know that I didn’t chain Promise. It was my wife. I am not the type that intimi­dates children. My biological children and even siblings can testify to that. I think she did it based on the thought that the girl may run away again, although I was never in support of that.”

A kinsman of the suspect also told the media, “My dear journalist, let me tell you something. You see, in Igboland, it is a stigma to the entire family to have a mad person in the family. That may make the family member to be ostracised from the community and this is the pain that this man (Okafor) has been dealing with. He has since been living with the problem of treating his wife who has partial madness and with that, I think he needs to be pitied and given some consideration.”

Promise is now being taken care of at the Stella Obasanjo Or­phanage in Ibara, Abeokuta as investigations continue.

Photo credit: Sunday Sun