There was a pin-drop silence in the room where only five of us sat; two men and three women. One of the women was her aunt who also doubles as her mother from age three when she lost her biological mother and the second woman is her elder sister who was 11 years old when their mother died.
Her three-year-old daughter strolled into the living room crying. It was her cry that broke the silence, but she was quickly returned to another room where other people around kept her busy to prevent her from disturbing her 18-year-year mother.
All this while, the centre of attraction, Oveze, had yet to speak. Her mood was pensive as she struggled to hold back tears which had welled up in her eyes. She stared into empty space with her chin resting on her two hands as she appeared to be unconscious of her environment.
Suddenly, tears dropped on her palms and that seemed to jolt her to reality. She quickly wiped it away and lifted her head. Finally, she found her voice and in a low tone she began the story of how her close friend and classmate in primary school whom she identified as Bose Monday took her to a woman in Ilesa, Osun State, who allegedly trafficked her to Ghana alongside 100 other girls.
She said the woman promised them they would earn N30, 000 each monthly serving as dishwashers but later sold each of them into slavery for N150, 000.
Prior to the incident, Oveze’s sister, Deborah, said Oveze behaved stubbornly in the house.
She said, “She used to leave the house for three days or a week with her friend, Bose. They were always together. She wouldn’t listen to anybody or obey instructions. She was usually rude.’
Deborah is the first of the three daughters of her late mother and Oveze is the last child. Saturday PUNCH gathered that her mother fell sick immediately Oveze was born and for three years, she battled with the sickness before she died.
Oveze’s mother gave birth to her amid a pregnancy shrouded in controversy as no one could tell who was responsible except the mother who said she would reveal the man after she gave birth.
But she couldn’t because immediately my sister was delivered of the baby she became unconscious. She had mental illness and we took her to a home in Lagos for care. It was while she was in the home in Lagos that she got pregnant and we didn’t know who owned the pregnancy. She told us she knew the man responsible for her pregnancy when we asked her and promised to tell us when she was delivered of the baby. Unfortunately, my sister became unconscious immediately after delivery and never recovered until her death about three years later, “said Mrs Felicia Okomayin, younger sister to Oveze’s mother.
Saturday PUNCH gathered that Oveze lived with Okomayin until her maternal grandmother decided to take her in with her in memory of her late daughter.
Deborah said, “That was the beginning of all her bad habits. My aunt has been a mother to us since my mother’s death but Oveze decided to behave differently.”
Oveze narrated that the story of her unfortunate exploit to Ghana began with a journey to Ilesa, Osun State, from Igarra, Edo State. Read more on Punchng.
