I was short of words after reading this piece i got from www.saharareporters.com.



•Man, poisoned, stabbed by adulterous wife, recounts ordeal.
“Heaven has no rage like love to hatred turned, Nor hell a fury like a woman scorned.” These words of William Congreve, an English poet and playwright who lived in 15th century came alive in Yalanguruza area of Gombe town recently when a young housewife attempted to take the life of

her husband of several years. Twenty-three-year-old Blessing Nkiluka Njoku, a mother of three, before her arrest and detention in prison for attempted murder, was said to have been caught pants down by Alex Njoku her husband in adulterous act with a male neighbour sometimes last year.

The guilt of that day never ceased to hunt her.
As expected, the development brewed serious domestic squable between the couple until Blessing decided on some sinister moves to end her hubby’s life.

She allegedly stabbed her husband several times, after a dose of food poison she administered on his food failed to accomplish its mission while a lethal injection awaited him.

Alex, a 35-year-old Gombe-based spare parts dealer, narrated his ordeal to the Nigerian Compass shortly after he was discharged from two separate hospitals where he underwent surgery due to internal bleeding.

It started with the betrayal that took place in his house in the early hours of that fateful Sunday.
Though still in pains despite spending some days in the hospital, the victim blamed the genesis of the problem that eventually took away the joy of his marriage to his then heartthrob consummated in 2003 on unfaithfulness. The latest in the series occurred a few months ago. It began as a rumour that one Chimezie Onosoreze, his neighbour, was having an affair with his wife.

Due to what he called blind love and caged trust, Alex said he initially waved it off as one of those petty gossips until a woman in the neighbourhood openly confronted Blessing with same allegation and also accusing him of marrying a prostitute. Alex was disappointed when his wife could not fight back. But with that, he started investigating the allegation to get to the roots of the matter.

The bubble eventually burst last August 28 as Alex made an unusual return to his house about 10.30 am and did not meet his wife. He said 10-year-old Anunche, his wife’s kid brother, living with them said that she had again gone to Onosoreze’s apartment.
He said he was shocked when he forced the neighbour’s door open.

“I met my wife and her lover stark naked, ostensibly after rounds of sex. Though I could not believe what I saw, I managed to muscle strength and descend on her, beating the hell out of her. That was the chance Onosoreze had to escape,” he narrated.

But unfortunately for Alex, that was just the beginning, as neighbours started gave him a list of men sharing his wife with him in the same street.
Though he still lives with the memory of that moment, Alex said that he never had any doubt in his mind that given enough time; he would forgive his wife at least for the sake of their lovely kids.

Because he wanted to save himself and his household from the embarrassment, he took steps to solve the problem internally. One of such was a meeting of a select elders and indigenes of their Oduma village in Anili Local Government Area of Enugu State.

The meeting prevailed on Alex not to go to the police station to arrest his wife’s lover, more so as she vehemently denied the allegation. However, the elders resolved that the couple should consult an oracle in Oduma village as insisted on by the husband where the truth would be revealed.
Though both of them commenced plans to go home for the oath-taking on an agreed date within the second week of January, since then there had been no love lost between them.

Alex also said that initially, he refused to eat or share the same room with Blessing thereafter. But the devil often has a way of playing his tricks. Alex was cajoled to have a taste of a special Garri and Egusi soup prepared for him by his wife just two days before their scheduled trip.

He said: “The moment I tasted that soup I knew something was wrong because it was better. I called one of my servants to bring his food for me to compare but the boy said my wife gave them a different meal. Then I saw the danger and pretended as if I was eating the food while I sent her on an errand.”

Though the poison did not kill him, it wreaked havoc on his system.
“The only thing I can remember was the moment I sat in the dinning, I only found myself in the bedroom weak, tired and sleeping deeply till the following morning,” he said.

Alex believed that Blessing might have helped him into the bedroom to make it look like he had died in his sleep overnight.
The effects of the poison also prevented the victim from partaking in the traffic control duty of the Living Faith Church, Gombe where the couple are both church workers.

Realising that the poison did not work, Blessing allegedly brought out a long knife called Ukah and stabbed her husband in the chest and lower abdomen. This dastardly act did not draw attention of neighbours as Alex claimed that she gagged him with cloths. After losing a lot of blood, he fell into coma. Thinking he had died, the mother of three who had earlier taken her kids to the children section of the church before carrying out her mission later escaped to the church where she was later picked up by the police.

Again, Alex miraculously survived the onslaught. The Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN) restored power few minutes after he fainted and he was revived.

“The peaceful breeze from the ceiling fan blew me back to life as I opened my eyes and regained consciousness,” he said.
The next thing he could do was to reach out on phone to one Fidelis Udenta, a close friend. That one arrived a couple of minutes later and met his friend in a pool of blood, gasping for breath, while the main door was ajar.

Udenta called other neighbours who later drew the attention of police to the matter while the victim was taken to the nearest hospital.
According to police sources, a team of investigators that arrived the scene did not find it difficult to see lapses in what was meant to be an organised crime.

But after her arrest, Blessing allegedly confessed to the crime. She narrated how she had carefully planned to kill the man who married her just when she was 14. She also confessed that the only option that could prevent them from the oath-taking was for him to be dead since she was guilty of the accusation.

She also gave were details of how she hurriedly washed her face and hands of blood stains and left the door open for church to create confusion that he was killed by hired assassins from business partners.

Her next option, she said, was to inject him with a poisonous liquid chemical later found inside her fancy box. Though the chemical is still undergoing laboratory test to determine its content, the culprit gave details of how it was procured with the intention to infuse him with terminal ailment that will immediately incapacitate and prevent him from embarking on the proposed trip before ending his life slowly.

Alex said he had sent his three kids to the village since he did not want them to have first hand experience and details of what their mother did to him as it may affect them in future.

He blamed the whole thing on his aged mother who introduced him to Blessing when he went home for Christmas in 2002. He added that his mother had mounted pressure on him to settle down then even though he was 28 years and still wanted to search for the best. The outcome of the pressure, Alex argued, was his marriage to a woman who wanted to kill him, after sharing her body with several men in the neighbourhood.
Alex also expressed bitterness that Onosoreze had been release by the police on the ground that no offence could be pinned on him.

Police sources said that since there were neither evidences nor did Alex lodge official complaint the moment he caught him with his wife, it would amount to a waste of time to take Onosoreze to court on charges of adultery and conspiracy to commit murder. But the businessman said he had left his neighbour in the hands of God.

He, however, said he might engage the services of medical experts to confirm the paternity of his three kids.
The Gombe State Police Command spokesman, DSP Abdullahi Kamba, confirmed the incident.

He said the suspect did not spend long time in their custody before she was arraigned in court to face a one-count charge of attempt to commit culpable homicide.
Blessing is currently cooling her heels at Federal Prisons in Gombe on the order of a Magistrate's Court, pending further hearing.

Actually it is from the Nigerian compass newspaper. Well, we learn everyday from this type of stories.

Uhm, hello, what's a big old man like him taking a 14 year-old wife 

Wat a pathetic story,the man was soo lucky to be alive. Woe unto women like blessing that are still outhere!

Why would anyone do something as disheartening as this?

I don't believe the story. The man just knew that there was poison on that particular day abi? hmm. Something might have actually happened but I bet they beat a confession out of that woman

He said: “The moment I tasted that soup I knew something was wrong because it was better. I called one of my servants to bring his food for me to compare but the boy said my wife gave them a different meal. Then I saw the danger and pretended as if I was eating the food while I sent her on an errand.”

Though the poison did not kill him, it wreaked havoc on his system.
“The only thing I can remember was the moment I sat in the dinning, I only found myself in the bedroom weak, tired and sleeping deeply till the following morning,” he said.



Since he knew immediately that the food ws poisoned and only pretended that he was eating it, how come it 'wrecked havoc on his system?'

I guess the man took little out of the food,that was why he passed out for a while and not die. Even if the man(alex) cal the police to arrest is neihbour,he could not av been charged for adultery,dat only happens in a sharia court.that was why he(alex) opted for swearing in a traditional court when his wife denied being caught in the act by her husband, so its his words against hers.