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| Nollywood actor, Foluke Daramola, campaigns against domestic violence. Image: Kokolife |
Iniabasi
look her husband wit corner eye as he dey sleep. Ukeme just dey roll up and dan
like say spirit dey purshoo am. She don bone tire! Why dis her mumu husband dey
snore like olden days Volkswagen? Ha ahn! One day, she go fit carry pillow
press press im head make he for quiet! Ah ahn!
As if
Ukeme know wetin she dey tink, he turn im nyash face her come release one kine
mess wey smell pass egg wey done rotten. De mess go straight go her face like
say na wetin in bin dey target.
She slap
am wit one mind! ‘Your
papa! Why you go mess for my face?! You dey mad ne?’
Ukeme
wake up with vex. Dis time, she no even prepare herself before he start dey
blow blow her. As he dey beat her, he follow dey bite her for her neck, for her
breast, for her belle, and for her lap. After he done swell up her body well
well, he tear the remaining cloth wey for dey her body come dey drag her for
ground. Deir neighbors bin don tire for their fights so tey nobody even comot
from their flat. Na so he drag her body for their compound till them reach
outside. As people gather dey laugh, he pour spit for her face come waka dey
go. Like say something push am, he turn back, waka come her place, open in
trouser, comot in prick, come start dey piss for her body. All de agberos wen
dey her area come dey laugh dey hail Ukeme. Na den she faint.
***
Iniabasi
Unwana was the first of eight children in a family that was piss poor! Her father
was a mean mechanic who spent whatever money he made on Ogogoro. He
drank so much that his natural odor was the stench of stale alcohol. They lived
in a one-room apartment where they literally had to sleep like sardines. Her
mother seemed to give birth every 10 months, such that at Iniabasi’s 8th birthday,
she had 7 siblings.
Her
father didn’t hit them but her mother more than made up for that. What her
father did though was…nothing! He didn’t pay bills, provide money for food, never sent any of his kids to school, and didn’t
work…much.
Her mother on the other hand worked enough for 10 people. She was a street cleaner between 6 and 7am and a maid for an Alhaja from 8am to 5pm. When she got home, it was to begin her business as an Akara seller at the motor park. She would do this until about 10pm before returning home. Even with what she did, she was only able to raise enough to ensure that her kids ate and wore the cheapest clothes. She paid the rent also but the bulk of her money went into treatment for her ailing mother in the village and clearing her husband’s debts at different Ogogoro joints. Anyone looking at Iniabasi’s mother would never believe that she is a young woman; she looked old, tired, angry and very bitter.
Iniabasi
started helping out when she was 4. Her mother would prepare Akamu and
it was Iniabasi's job to hawk them on the streets. As she grew older, it fell
to her to wash the beans, take them to grind in a bucket heavier than her and
then peel the yams and potatoes as she waited for her mother. She would then
put all of them in a truck and push them to the spot where her mother cooked.
She had to do all this while taking care of her younger ones.
It was on
one of such days that her father returned home early. She was washing the beans
when she heard a grunt behind her. She jumped, startled, as she faced the
person who had made the sound. She saw her father rubbing his penis while looking
at her. She was 9 but she knew that what he was doing was wrong.
‘Papa,
wetin you dey do?’ she asked as she took a step back. He approached
her, swaying, still rubbing his penis, and still wearing the weird look.
‘Come
here. Come and take.’
Iniabasi
looked behind her. She was boxed in. Her only escape route was through her
father. As she contemplated what to do, Iya Kemi came out of her room with her
broom held high. Iya Kemi hit her father repeatedly, with each well-placed blow
punctuated with a scream.
‘Neighbors!
Neighbors! Make una come see abomination! Come see wetin Unwana dey do for
front of im pikin oh! Aiye ma baje! Ko ni da fun e! Olori buruku! Oloshi!’
Iniabasi
ran to Iya Kemi and used all her strength to try to pull her off her father.
Iya Kemi wouldn’t budge. She kept hitting her father as he tried to protect
himself.
Neighbors
from other compounds came in and men started beating Unwana. They stripped him
and continued to beat him. Someone shouted, ‘Bring tire’ and
out of nowhere, a tire materialized. They had just put the tire around him when
sirens of an approaching police vehicle and shots fired into the air sent the
crowd running.
Unwana
was rushed to the hospital and someone sent for her mother.
When her
mother came home and asked what happened, Iniabasi trembled in response. She
told her mother everything and watched her expression change from worry to
extreme anger. Her mother went to the door, locked it and faced her.
‘Come
here. And make devil punish you today say you shout.’
Iniabasi
went to her mother for what she knew was a certainty; she was about to get the
beating of her life!
***
That was
the beginning of her daily beatings. For the slightest misdemeanor, her mother
would look at her and beat her black and blue! Sometimes the neighbors helped
and other times, they didn’t. Iniabasi’s body was designed with so many welts
that she began to look scaly.
Her
father recovered and returned home. The police dropped the case, blaming his
attempted molestation on impaired judgement. The neighbors made fun of him and
to escape them, he spent more and more time indoors. He was always drunk; even
more so than before. One thing changed though. He was visibly scared of
Iniabasi! When she served him food, he shrank a bit. If he was alone in the
room and she entered, he would send her back outside. Eventually, he asked his
wife to never let Iniabasi serve him food, drink or anything again. When she
greeted him, he didn't respond. If there was a message for him, she would have
to send one of her siblings to him. On the contrary though, he showed love to
the rest of his children. He alienated Iniabasi and didn’t care that she wilted
a little bit more every time he ignored her.
Iniababsi had one sad childhood.
***
Iniabasi
kept doing her duties; preparing the Akamu the night before,
waking up in the morning to do house chores, preparing different trays for each
of her siblings to go and hawk, cooking for the house and then setting out to
hawk whatever Akamu was
remaining. She would return at about 12pm to wash the beans for her
mother’s business, peel the yams and potatoes, soak them in water and head out
to hawk some more. At about 4pm, she would return home to go grind the beans.
After that, she would load the wheel barrow with the food, plates, cups and
firewood and head to the park. When she gets there, she would clean the
environment and set the firewood, proceed to cook the yams and potatoes and do
other minor things. Her mother would turn up, push her from the seat and
continue frying with not so much as a ‘thank you’ for all the work.
Iniabasi
always stayed on to help sell the food to the agberos and
travelers at the park. When they were done for the night, she would park up and
wheel the barrow behind her mother until they got home.
Soon
enough, the agberos began to notice the young budding body of
Iniabasi. As they noticed her, they began to grab; her bum, her almost none
existent breasts and her oh-so-innocent face. As they noticed her, her mother
noticed them noticing her. Her mother would deliver an occasional knock or slap
when she thought Iniabasi was being too friendly; ‘too friendly’ being when she
dared to smile or laugh when selling the food. How dare she laugh?!
One
night, a young, dancing agbero entertained the people in the
park with his utterly impressive moves. Iniabasi laughed with the glee of
a happy child. Everyone was captivated; well, everyone but Iniabasi’s
mother. She pulled Iniabasi’s ears and slapped her. She told Iniabasi to go
home and wait for her. Iniabasi cried until she got home. She sat outside, in
the slightly chilly weather as she wondered what she had done to God to get
this rotten life.
As soon
as she saw her mother, she stilled in preparation for the blow that was sure to
come. She helped her mother with the containers and wheelbarrow, flinching
every time her mother moved a muscle. She kept waiting for the blow but it
didn’t come. As soon as she was done putting everything away, her mother called
her into the room. She walked in with her heart in her mouth. She instinctively
knelt down, taking care to keep her head down.
Her
mother did all the talking.
‘As you
don dey look boys, dey play with them, time done reach make you comot for my
house. I no go allow you turn ashawo for my house. So, your father don gree say
make you marry. Since your body big pass your age, nobody go know say you
small. One driver for Ebute Metta wey dem dey call Ukeme wan marry you. We done
gree. So, pack your load. I go carry you go meet am tomorrow. I for do wedding
for you but as you disgrace your father, we go give you to Ukeme for free. Na
so we take tire for you. And when you go, no come back this house. Oya, comot
from my room before I use shoe finish you.’
Iniabasi
got up, her shoulders resigned to her fate and for the first time in her life,
she slept peacefully. She was leaving the hell hole!
***
Someone
took the picture of the naked, battered woman lying down on the street in Ebute
Metta and sent it to Linda Ikeji’s blog. She ran the story, asking
the authorities to step in and people who knew her to help out in whatever way
they could.
An intern
at Project Alert saw the post and went to Mrs.
Josephine Effah-Chukwuma with it. Mrs. Josephine sent out a team
immediately to Ebute Metta. As soon as they got there, the team lifted the
frail woman unto a stretcher and into the waiting rescue truck. They sped off
to the Federal Medical Centre which was, thankfully, a few streets away.
***
Turns out
the ‘woman’ was no woman after all. When she was resuscitated, the doctor was
shocked that this battered ‘woman’, with multiple injuries, some cracked ribs,
a broken nose, some internal bleeding and eyes swollen shot was no older than
14.
This
series starts with different girls in different towns. To get acquainted with
their stories, check the links below;
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