Agony of ostracized Ebonyi widow

…Claims the action aimed to deprive her and children of the late husband’s estate, family land …My life and the lives of my children are in grave danger, now a fugitive, she cries out A widow, Mrs. Njideka Ngwutu, from Nsokkara community in Ezza South Council of Ebonyi State, experienced the worst embarrassment of her life and indeed the height of encroachment into her fundamental rights, when a group of women from her community announced that she was from the community for allegedly questioning the change of the women’s meeting venue.

She alleged that the leadership nd members of the Acharaukwu Development Union Women Wing (ADU) wrongfully accused her and ostracized her even without fair hearing and proper investigation. According to her, the punishment was initiated by notable personalities in her kindred to allegedly banish her and grab her late husband’s land and confiscate other estates belonging to the family.

The widow has appealed to the Ministry of Women Affairs, the Governor’s wife, and other well meaning people across the country to urgently wade into matter and conduct a thorough investigate into her plights. In her letter of appeal, titled: “Urgent Petition against Extreme Harassment, Ostracization, and Attempted Forcible Eviction by the leadership and members of the Acharaukwu Development Union, Women Wing (ADU), in Ezza South Local Government Area”, the widow alleged that members of Umunaza kindred united against her because she was married from Achina Aguata Council of Anambra State and has no one to speak on her behalf because all the adult male children of her husband’s family had died of strange diseases.

“I am originally from Achina, Aguata LGA of Anambra State, but was married into the Ngwuta Anyigor family of Acharaukwu Nsokkara in Ezza South LGA about 27 years ago. The union is blessed with three children. Tragically, my husband is deceased, just like his brothers, parents, and other prominent male relatives. Since the demise of my husband and his male relatives, nobody represents the family at kindred level that is why we have been maltreated.

“I have been subjected to relentless torment by certain members of our kindred, Umunaza Kindred of Acharaukwu Nsokkara, who are hell-bent on dispossessing my family of the lands belonging to us. “My late husband had 2 brothers who got married and had children before the 3 brothers incidentally died under suspicious circumstances, leaving me and my co-wives as young widows with our young children behind.

My parents in-law are also deceased, and so the entire Ngwuta Anyigor family was left in the hands of widows and young children. Before my mother-in-law died in 2016, my co-wives and their children had left the village owing to numerous spiritual attacks and unexplainable deaths in the family, leaving only my mother-in-law, myself, and my 3 children behind.

“I had wanted to run away with my children from the village but I could not leave my mother in-law alone as she was old and needed care. I stayed behind and took care of her until she died and was buried. After her death, I realized that leaving the village with my children would mean that everyone in the family had run away and that would lead the family name, compound and legacy into extinction.

I stayed back with my children, farmed on our lands and used the proceeds to train my children in school. As a result of my stay in the village, some of my husband’s nephews and nieces have returned and now live with me in the family compound,” she narrated. Mrs. Ngwuta, however, revealed that ever since she lost her husband and decided to stayed back with her children the husband’s nephews and nieces, some members of her late husband’s kindred, Umunaza, have been trying to forcefully take over her husband’s Estates and family lands and frustrate them out of the family compound.

She expressed surprise that those at the forefront of the land-grabbing were close to her husband while he was alive. “Despite my vulnerability as a widow without adult male backing me in the family, I have consistently resisted these land-grabbing attempts. At the forefront of this oppression are some very close family members of my late husband, who share the same kindred with my late husband.

When they attempted to forcefully take over my lands, I stood my ground, and the entire Acharaukwu community intervened, looked into the matter, and rightfully decided in my favour” Mrs. Ngwuta said, “Following their inability to take over the lands, these people have resorted to character assassination and blackmail.” “Sometime in 2024, two young girls from the same Acharaukwu Nsokkara came to my house around 9pm and begged me to agree that I had sold some cassava to them.

I immediately suspected that I was being set up by the same people who had been trying to take me out of my family and I quickly refused and asked them to leave my house. Owing to my fear of being set up in more unsuspecting events, I made a conscious decision to