For Real? Woman, 30, Reveals Why She Wedded Boyfriend Who Infected Her With HIV

The love story of a postgraduate student, Talatu John, who got married to the man who infected her with HIV has got people talking.

30-year-old Talatu John (not real name), a postgraduate student of a university in the North, discovered that she was HIV positive five months to her wedding to Emmanuel.

Talatu’s misery started after a scary dream on June 24, 2016. It was not the first time she had nightmares, but this particular day was different.

“I had a dream that when I went to collect the result of the HIV/AIDS test I did, the result showed that I was positive. I began to cry in the dream and many people tried to console me,” she said.

Unfortunately, the dream turned out to be real. Indeed, she had gone for a HIV test but was yet to get the result. When she went to collect the result of the test on the day of the dream, it showed she was HIV positive.

In an interview with a Punch correspondent, amid sobs, Talatu said:

”What pains me most is that my boyfriend had the virus but never told me. We were having unsafe sex regularly. I don’t know why he never told me despite the fact that he truly loves me.”

Talatu and Emmanuel met in 2014. She said:

”I love him. I still do. The love was so strong that I gave him all my heart. We had unprotected sex at different times. I was so much in love that I never cared whether we used a condom or not.  I was not even scared of being pregnant. He too never bothered to use a condom.

Then, I didn’t know he was HIV positive and he never told me. Later, my sister, a nurse, told me she learnt that he (Emmanuel) is HIV positive and that I should search his room. She gave me the name of the drug he was using.  But I never found any. In order to be sure I was not already infected, I went for HIV/AIDS test and it showed that I was negative. That calmed my nerves.

But early this year, I found out I was getting regularly sick. I used to feel hot and tired easily. After repeated medications for malaria, I didn’t get better. Then I started depreciating in size. I was advised to go for HIV test.

The lady at the laboratory handed the result to me and told me to see the doctor. She raised my curiosity when she told me she couldn’t tell me the result. The doctor then dropped the bombshell. I was devastated. So, in anger, I went to confront my boyfriend with the news but he denied.

I started crying and he consoled me; we had already made arrangements for our wedding. It was a day before we went for counselling at the church that he told me the truth. Sometimes, we quarrel over this and I used to call him the ‘devil.’ But he kept on consoling me.”

Last week Saturday at a popular church in Lafia, the Nasarawa State capital, Talatu took a bold step and demonstrated that true love keeps no record of wrongs when she tied the knot with Emmanuel at a lavish ceremony.

Basking in the euphoria of the wedlock, the couple, shortly after the wedding, said they were happy. The groom said he was delighted and grateful to God for making his dream a reality.

”In fact, I am overwhelmed. Today is my day and I never expected this crowd on my wedding day. I really appreciate everyone who took time out of their schedule to honour us. It is a wonderful union indeed.

This joy is unquantifiable and there is no day in my life that is as important as this day.”

He added that he would have missed a lot in life if he had not met his wife.

”My wife is a very loving and caring woman, incomparable to any other woman. In fact, if I had not married her, I would have missed a lot of things in life,” he stated.

According to the couple, the church consented to the wedding because both of them are HIV positive.

The new bride, who looked distantly into the future as she spoke, added that she learnt from the experience and had taken a bold step to move on with her life whether HIV positive or negative.

“My regret is that I will always be on drugs for the rest of my life. He even warned me not to tell my family about my status. I wished that I remained a virgin. I also regret not using condoms while the courtship lasted.

Sometimes, if you are in love, you will be fooled. I advise young ladies to be careful. It is better to listen to wise counsel than bear the consequences of wrong decisions. I have learnt my lessons,” she said.

Speaking on the marriage, a University of Lagos psychologist, Prof. Oni Fagbohungbe, said hiding ones’ HIV status from one’s lover was unacceptable and detrimental to such a relationship.

Fagbohungbe added that many people who indulge in such deceit do so out of fear that if they reveal the truth, their partners might not agree to marry them.

Photo credit: Punch