Posted by By JERRY OBIDIKE on
A moment of sexual indiscretion has placed the fate of 7 month-old unborn twins in the hands of two confused youngsters - 20 years old Chioma (not her real name) and Chidi (real names withheld) her boy friend, both from Nkanu in Enugu State.
A moment of sexual indiscretion has placed the fate of 7 month-old unborn twins in the hands of two confused youngsters - 20 years old Chioma (not her real name) and Chidi (real names withheld) her boy friend, both from Nkanu in Enugu State.
Said to be children of two close families in the same village, Chioma and Chidi became friends right from their early adolescent until Chidi moved to Lagos to become an apprentice trader somewhere in Lagos Island, where his ‘master' is said to be in small-time clothes business.
But Chioma who is said to have finished her secondary education in good grade soon moved base to Lagos to get closer to her heartthrob.
Sexescapedes
Although Chioma did not expressly leave her village to join Chidi in Lagos, the two found a meeting point to continue from where they had left off in the village. So, while she lived under the care and protection of her step-sister who, according to her, works with FSB Bank in Lagos, Chioma secretly engaged in sexual liaison with Chidi and it eventually culminated in the worrisome pregnancy.
The cat is let out of the bag
Although Chioma kept the fact of her pregnancy hidden from the step-sister, it was not long before the truth came to light.
After about two months and sensing that the step-sister would become suspicious, Chioma bolted away from the house claiming that she traveled home. But she actually went to stay with some friends in the Agege area of Lagos.
Thrown out
For her friends, it was enough burden housing a friend who dropped out from nowhere without a job, but accommodating her and the demands of early pregnancy was too much for them to bear. So, they found a way round the problem and threw her out into the street. And so, she began to wander about the streets of Lagos. She had nowhere else to go. Not to her sister nor to the father of her unborn baby.
Kanu Heart Foundation
Based on an agreement with the boyfriend, Chidi, Chioma decided to seek succour in Kanu Heart Foundation, not really knowing what the foundation was all about. She was desperate. And it was in this state of desperation that Saturday Sun ran into her.
Chioma's problem, according to her, is simple. She is looking for a home where she can stay and nurture the pregnancy from gestation to delivery. After which the babies will be handed over to the motherless babies home, as she has no intention of keeping the baby.
Unfortunately, she has now learnt that KHF brief does not cover her kind of problem and now has to look elsewhere.
Expecting twins, protecting their father
Meanwhile, medical examination which the expectant mother said was paid for by the boyfriend has indicated that Chioma is carrying a set of twins. But Chioma initially refused to disclose the identity of the boyfriend, the father of the unborn twins claiming that the publicity would affect the condition of the boyfriend. According to her, the boyfriend was billed to be ‘settled' and set free by the Master by December and the publicity that would come with exposing his identity could jeopardize his chances of getting a good deal from the master.
'Please I don't want the master to know", the heavily pregnant girl pleaded. 'I am afraid the master will terminate his apprenticeship". Convinced by Saturday Sun that it is in her own interest and the future of the unborn twins to disclose the identify so that they could be counselled on how to tackle the problem, Chioma caved in and revealed the first name and the GSM no of the boyfriend.
I don't want my family to know
Meanwhile Chioma would not buy into the idea of letting her step-sister or parents or any other relations know about the incident. According to her, their tradition has only one solution to this problem and that is marriage - at give away price in the village - to an old adult who is either a widower or has never had the means to marry a wife of his own. Chioma would not want this prospect to be her portion in life.
'I am afraid the moment I let my parents know, they will invite me home and that will be marriage to an old man", she said, amid sobs.
Chidi shows up
Right from the day Chioma gave out the phone number of Chidi, the prospective father had evaded every effort to bring him to confront his pregnant girlfriend. However, he eventually yielded to the persuasion and came. He showed up at the KHF office at around 8pm that evening.
From that moment, everybody that was conversant with the problem at hand turned instant counselor. 'We began family counseling urging the young couple to face reality and responsibility by bringing their parents into the matter with the hope of formalizing the relationship so as to start life as husband and wife", an official of the foundation told Saturday Sun.
Still adamant
But the young man still insisted on keeping the news from the parents and public. He only agreed to take Chioma to the home of a married friend of his that night for temporary accommodation and probably continue the search the next day for where to dump the mother and the unborn twins. Of course they did not say that much. Bt they are both adults - legally, that is.