The victim Chika Egbo, learnt of her romance with a man from the south western part of the country who had offered to marry her, they were surprised giving the fact that their daughter and sister does not live or school in that part of the country
On June 25, 2011, Sulieman and a
couple of friends visited Egbo’s home town in Awgu and performed what her
father described as ‘knocking on the door’ which he said was in line
with Igbo tradition. “None of them identified themselves as his
parent and they said they came for introduction.
I welcomed them and asked Suleiman
to bring his parents to me, because marriage is not for children and I also
wanted to be familiar with the family I was about giving out my daughter to in
marriage. He then told me that his father was sick and he was in coma but he
can bring his mother and other members of his family for the marriage ceremony.
I said okay that I am waiting. But few months after that, my daughter called me
and said she was pregnant.
“I was so shocked and embarrassed. I
berated her for letting the family down and not waiting for the man to bring
his family to conclude her marriage rite before going to bed with him. She told
me that she was sorry, so I accepted and asked her to leave all she was doing
in school and travel to Lagos to inform the man’s family about her pregnancy.
When she got to Lagos, she called me
and said she met a man at Sulieman’s house who introduced himself as his father
but he was healthy, hail and hearty . She also said that the man told her that
he was unaware that Sulieman was engaged to any woman.
She said the man told her that all
Sulieman had always requested was visa for him to travel abroad and they have
been making plans for that. The man also told my daughter that he had
separated with Sulieman’s mother for a long time and they were no longer
staying together.
Then he gave her Sulieman’s mother’s
phone number and asked her to call the woman and tell her what was happening.
When she did, the woman was so surprised and my daughter was embarrassed, she
thought Sulieman’s mother was on the know of all his plans to marry her and
unfortunately his mother wasn’t. She then asked her to call him and confirm.
“When she did, Sulieman told my
daughter that he wasn’t in the country. When my daughter checked the number she
used in calling him, it was a local number. She sensed trouble and left the
place angrily. Later, she called and told me everything that happened.
She said Sulieman is a liar and she
would have to abort the pregnancy because she cannot marry a man she does
not trust. I asked her not to do such a thing because it is against our
religion and no one knows who the child could become in future. She accepted
and kept the pregnancy.” Egbo explained
We took care of our daughter and
when the child became three months, we asked her to bring the child to us
at Taraba State so we can take care of her. All this happened last April
and by November 4th, I got a call from Sulieman that he wanted to see his
daughter, then I told him that if he wanted to see his daughter, he must bring
his parents to see me.
That was all I told him and the next
day, I got a call from my son in Enugu that his sister has been poured
acid by the man who wanted to marry her and she is currently at the
hospital. I asked him to rush down to Lagos and confirm if it was true and he
did. After he called, I travelled to Lagos and I saw my daughter. I
shed tears when I saw her. I couldn’t believe my eyes when I saw
her burnt body.
When I asked what happened, I was
told that the man who wanted to marry her tricked her to Lagos, that his mother
wanted to see her and when she got to Lagos, he took her to a spot, then he
brought out a can and poured acid on her, that an Okada rider who took them to
the spot saw what was happening and ran after Sulieman but he emptied the can
of acid on him also but the man held him firmly. After which they were both
arrested by the police who took my daughter and the Okada rider to the nearest
hospital.
The victim mother says[All I need now is justice], I have
told Sulieman’s parents to do all they can to restore my daughter’s face. She
did nothing to this man. I don’t know why he would do such a thing to her. When
I spoke to Suileman at the State CID, Panti, Yaba, lagos, he told me that the
devil took over him, that was why he did what he did.
chikas face before
chikas face after the incident
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