A woman has narrated the dramatic scene she witnessed when her friend's estranged husband's family returned her to her father's home in Port Harcourt, only for her family to immediately return the bride price, sever the union, and take back their daughter and her three children.
According to the Facebook user who shared the story, the wife had been enduring infidelity and abuse for 15 years, yet chose to stay. However, on July 25, her husband allegedly packed all her belongings and took them to her father's house in Port Harcourt to return her. Her father and brothers asked them to bring her back to the village where they married her traditionally. The husband and his family obliged and did that this week.
Traditional Rites and Immediate Bride Price Return
What they did not expect was for the wife's family to immediately return the bride price, sever the union, and collect their daughter back, alongside the children she had in the marriage. The woman described the scene: 'At the entrance of her father's house, the oldest member of her kinsmen broke cola, he handed the cola to the person representing the husbands family members. He took the cola. The next thing was a brown envelop oh. He took it before he released what was inside. The man broke a calabash of palm wine immediately too. It was fast. Very fast.'
The chiefs and elders from the man's side were confused, as they thought it was just to return her things until, maybe, they could settle again. This wasn't the first pack-and-go episode, but it was the silencer. Her people were ready.
Father's Love and Emotional Homecoming
The woman wrote: 'Yesterday, I witnessed a father's love for his child. I saw a father who stood straight, unflinched, held his daughter's hand said, You're home Ngozi! He held those tears and waited until the house was filled with the people he loved before he broken down crying... I saw a father holding his children and crying and telling them, No one will die in marriage...'
The father walked to the gate, took his daughter's hand and grandkids and said: 'Adanne, ka!' He turned to his in-laws and said, 'Thank you for not bringing her in a body bag.' He walked in with his family and the gate was closed in the face of those standing outside. There was no welcome or room for negotiations. It was a Bye Felicia reception.
Background of Abuse and Miscarriages
The narrator provided background: 'Domestic violence. Abuse. Cruelty of the highest order. Infidelity laced with infections.. Forgiveness was always preached, yet there was no repentance. Back to back abuse... She stayed. We talked, she wanted to fix a SHATTERED VASE. Religion was doing the most with, you can't. Fix it and pray. 3 kids. 4 miscarriages from abuse. 15yrs martial exploit. Years of layered abuse.'
The friend's father is a widower who lost his wife and second son in a motor accident. He raised his children alone and never remarried. The narrator noted: 'He wasn't ready to bury another person yet.'
Tradition and Children's Custody
After the bride price was returned, the husband and his family asked for the children, but the wife's family refused. According to the narrator, 'when bride price is returned the children belongs the wife's family. If you want your children, you have to come and marry them and that's if the family is willing oh.'
Outside the gate there was commotion, and the boys and community youth held still. The narrator said they did good. She concluded: 'I came back home knowing my friend is loved and well. She called me this morning and said, Babe I slept in my father's arms and for the first time in years, I'm okay!'
