Is this Becoming a Trend? Husband Absconds after Wife Delivers Triplets

It seems as though the incidents of husbands abandoning their wives right after childbirth is on the rise in Nigeria. You will recall that recently, a man in Delta abandoned his wife after a scan showed she was expecting triplets (read here). And now, Isi Udekwe, 35, is pleading with her husband Matthew Udekwe, to return home, after he reportedly fled home in April 2016. This occurred immediately after his wife gave birth to triplets.

Udekwe, who hails from Enugu State, abandoned his family home on Eke Street, in Ikpoba-Okha Local Government Area of Edo State.

Punch reports that:

Isi, said her husband had informed her prior that he would not be able to cater for the family if she had multiple births, a warning she said she took for a joke.

The 35-year-old, said she was stunned when her husband failed to show up after the arrival of the triplets. She said:

READ ALSO: Mother Abandons Twins Shortly After Childbirth Over Inability to Pay N150,000 Hospital Bill

“When I went for the scanning and was told that I had triplets, he said if I gave birth to triplets, he would not be around because he would not be able to take care of them.

I thought it was a joke.The day I gave birth to them, I called him and told him. He congratulated me. But since then, I have not seen him.”

The couple already had three babies (two boys and a girl) Uchena 7, Akachukwu, 5 and Bethel, 3 before the arrival of the triplets. The nursing mother, who was a food vendor, lamented that things have been difficult for her.

She further explained that sometimes she resorted to begging for alms in some markets to enable her to provide for her five children.

In a letter addressed to the Deputy Governor and dated February 7, 2017, she appealed to the Edo State Government for assistance adding that she would not like to give her children up for adoption or let them die of starvation.

“Wherever he is, I want him to come back so that we can take care of the children together. I pray God to protect him because I know that if he had money, he would not have run away,” she said.

Photo Credit: Punch