UCHENNA INYA 
She was in a relationship with a man, from Abeokuta, Ogun State, which led to the birth of three kids. But the relationship went sour and Oyiri Egwu Okoche, a native of Amaizu in Afikpo North Local Government Area of Ebonyi State became a punching bag. She was later dumped with the three children. They roamed the streets of Lagos for months without help before Governor Dave Umahi rescued and rehabilitated them as UCHENNA INYA reports from Abakaliki
Miss Oyiri Egwu Okoche was living in Abuja with her parents. In 2004, she travelled to Lagos with their neighbour, a Prophetess. There in Lagos, one Idowu Shittu allegedly met the said ‘woman of God’ and told her that she wants to marry Oyiri Egwu Okoche. The ‘Woman of God’ reportedly called Oyiri to tell her what Shittu had in mind for her.
The girl didn’t like the man but she was later convinced by the ‘woman of God’ to marry Shittu and two of them became lovers. They continued in the relationship, bearing children without formalizing it. When Oyiri’s father died, they travelled to Ebonyi for the burial of the man. When the burial was over, Oyiri’s mother reportedly invited Shittu for a discussion on the relationship between him and her daughter, Oyiri. The woman reportedly pleaded with Shittu to formalize his marriage with Oyiri by paying her dowry. The man allegedly agreed and promised that he would visit her for the dowry.
However, Shitttu did not fulfill the promise and he couldn’t pay Oyiri’s dowry till now. Domestic violence, which was inherent in their relationship remained unabated. The mother of three had to run out of their house with her three children and started roaming the street to look for the contacts of her family members. A Lagosian saw her and the children and posted a video clip of them suffering and roaming the streets of Lagos without help for months. The attention of the Governor Dave Umahi was brought to the disturbing video clip and he quickly directed that the woman and her children be immediately rescued and brought to Ebonyi State.
The governor ordered for immediate and automatic employment of the rescued Lagos based Ebonyi mother of three. Speaking to journalists in Abakaliki after she arrived the state with her children, Oyiri, who was visibly happy and full of gratitude to Umahi, painfully narrated how Shittu allegedly maltreated her for 16 years and later abandoned her and her children to suffer in Lagos in the name of marriage. Oyiri, who was in company of the Caretaker Chairman of Afikpo North Local Government Area, Mrs. Amauche Godwin Otunta, said that her ordeal started in 2004 when the man met her in Lagos and promised to marry her but never paid her bride price for 16 years nor took care of her and her children. She said: “I met him in 2004 when I came to Lagos. I lived in Abuja with my parents.
I came to Lagos with our neighbour in Abuja who is a woman of God. He met the woman and said he wanted to marry me. I never liked him because he was not my kind of man but he told the woman that he loves me and that he would take care of me. The woman convinced me to marry him and asked me to pray so that God will change him. “When my father died, we attended the burial .After the burial, my mother told him to come and pay my bride price if he wants to marry me .He said he would come in no distant time. But he never did. We have three children now.
The worst now is that he wants to kill me and my children. So, I ran out of the house to look for my people because I have lost contacts of my family members.” She said. The Caretaker Chairman of Afikpo North Local Government Area, Hon. Mrs. Amauche Godwin Otunta, told newsmen that an accommodation has been provided for the woman at the Afikpo North Local Government’s lodge as part of series of efforts towards rehabilitating her and her children as directed by the Governor. “ The woman is from my local government. She is from Amaisu in Afikpo North Local Government Area. We have made contacts and I can confirm she is from Afikpo.
A video clip of her and her children roaming the streets of Lagos had surfaced on online. “When the attention of the Governor was drawn to it, he immediately directed and dispatched a delegation to Lagos to rescue them. And to the Glory of God ,they are here with us now .Our kindhearted Governor has also directed that the woman be given automatic employment at the local government. And we shall do that with immediate effect too” she said. She commended the governor for his quick intervention in the matter, promising to ensure that the woman and her children are properly rehabilitated and reintegrated into the society.
