Unbelievable story of Mr Ogbonnaya Ani who
has 7 members of his family insane. He hails
from Umuose Urobo in the Uburu area of
Ohaozara LGA of Ebonyi State. The Ani
family is being ravaged by the spirit of
madness.
Ogbonnaya Ani’s elder brother’s daughter is mentally
challenged. His younger brother’s son is in the same
condition. Three of his own children, a male and two
females, are equally afflicted. His daughter-in-law is
not left out. So, there are six mentally ill persons in the
family and, perhaps, still counting. Worst still, one of
Ani’s mentally challenged daughters is heavily pregnant
and no one seems to know who impregnated her…
And before his first wife died, she exhibited some
signs of madness.
Recently, Mr Ogbonnaya told the stranger than fiction
story. There is no doubt that the madness ravaging his
immediate and nuclear families have left its toll on the
old man. Sadness is evident in his sunken eyes. He looked
frail and his voice quakes in palpable agony as he spoke.
But for the magnanimity of a relation, Mr Ani and his
household would not have had a place to lay their heads.
This is because his mentally challenged son, Igwe Ani,
alias Martin Martin, set his house ablaze. And before
help could come, the structure had been reduced to
ashes.
So, currently, Ogbonnaya and his family are squatters
somewhere in Uburu, Ohaozara LGA of Ebonyi State.
When the reporter visited the family last
Wednesday, Ozieme, his beautiful but insane daughter,
was hanging around. With her tummy protruding as a
result of advanced pregnancy, she looked vacantly into
space, perhaps unaware of her environment and
condition. A few times she smiled and muttered to
herself. When asked to pose for a photograph,
Ozieme obliged.
“This place we are is not my house,” Ogbonnaya began.
“My place is further up, after Oriebe. I relocated to
this place because of the problem that I’m facing. I had
a small mud house and I made it good enough for people
to stay in before the problem started through my son,
Igwe. It first started with Igwe and his sister, Ozieme
joined later. While Igwe’s problem started at home,
Ozieme’s started from outside the community. When
she travelled and returned, she began to behave
abnormally.”
In an agony laden voice, Ogbonnaya continued: “I don’t
know how it started but we suspected or thought
that Igwe joined his mates to smoke all sorts of things. I
cautioned him to stop it if he was indulging in such act
but there was no difference. We used to beat him to
stop smoking to know if he would but to no avail. He
started manifesting madness about eight years ago. He
was still in primary school when it started; he was in
Primary Four when he broke loose. Because of the
problem, he couldn’t continue with his education. I
cannot really say if he brought it upon himself by
smoking certain substances or it is a problem destined
to come”.
He said that the problem reached a crescendo when
Igwe burnt down his house. “He used to pack all sorts
of rubbish and dump in the house. It was impossible to
chase him out of the house because he used to wield
cutlasses and wood, threatening to harm anyone who
gets close to him. At a point, he had outgrown
everybody. On a certain day, he set the house ablaze
and before people could come to fight the fire, things
had got out of hand. That was how the building
containing two rooms, a parlour and big verandah were
razed down. Thereafter, we became homeless, so I
brought my wife and kids to stay in a relation’s place.
That was how we relocated.”
Ani said that his daughter was okay until a certain man
from Nsukka in Enugu State came to seek her hand in
marriage. According to him, the man eloped with the
girl, adding that by the time she returned home, she had
lost her mind even as she nursed a baby.
His words: “In the case of Ozieme, there was a time
she travelled to Enugu to stay with her brother. There
she started a relationship with one man from Nsukka
and they agreed to marry. She brought the man home
and introduced him to us. After meeting with us, the
man said that he was going to prepare and come back
for the formalization of the relationship. She insisted
on going with the man; we asked her to wait for the
man to go and come but she refused. We didn’t see
the man again.
“When she was coming back, she came with a baby and
started behaving in a manner we could not understand.
We tried all we could to deal with the situation but to
no avail. This thing happened about five years ago and
we have not set eyes on the man ever since. She didn’t
have the soundness of mind to breastfeed and
properly care for the baby and she died. Right now,
she is heavily pregnant, she will be putting to bed
anytime and we do not know who is responsible for the
pregnancy.
“Again, another of my daughter who is married and a
seamstress is also behaving abnormally.
“I cannot explain how this problem came into the
family. From our parents, we did not experience any
such thing. It did not happen to my eldest brother, who
had died.”
Source: The Sun