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Who Will Rescue Her?

By From Abiodun Fagbemi, Ilorin
07 May 2010   |   10:00 pm
Story of a pregnant lady living on the streets in Ilorin, the Kwara State capital and thought to be having psychiatric problems. WHO is this lady? What could be her mission where she lives at present? Who could be responsible for the pregnancy a young lady believed to be out of her mind is carrying?These…
Story of a pregnant lady living on the streets in Ilorin, the Kwara State capital and thought to be having psychiatric problems. WHO is this lady? What could be her mission where she lives at present? Who could be responsible for the pregnancy a young lady believed to be out of her mind is carrying?

These are the questions people are asking about a lady believed to be in her early 20s, who suddenly appeared at number 25, Murtala Mohammed Way, Ilorin, Kwara State. Like every other person, she takes her bath regularly, eats whenever she is hungry, sleeps in the night and does not joke with her hygiene.

But she can neither trace her origin nor stick to one name. Today she is Taiye, at another time she is Kehinde. Besides, she said she is from Mecca. Although no precise date could be fixed, people who knew the time she got to her present abode said they first sighted her in October 2009. She has ever since been sleeping outside whether in the rain or in the sun. After all, nobody in this part of the world wants to accommodate a person categorized as insane.

Mr. Ashonibare Sunday who lives in an adjoining house to where she sleeps, said the lady often soliloquizes in the night and from such soliloquy, one could deduce some facts about her origin and her people.

Said Sunday, a retired civil servant: “She used to link her present ordeal to her marital life. She said she was to have married the driver of a timber lorry but her lady friend through treachery allegedly snatched the man from her. From every indication, she has Moslem background.

“It is certain that she is one of a set of twins, but nobody can say precisely whether she is Taiye or Kehinde. She is not violent in nature and except when she talks to herself occasionally, it will be difficult for anybody to say she has psychiatric problems. She wakes up early in the morning to take her bath. She sweeps where she sleeps, fetches water and eats. When you give her money she will collect, and come back the following day to thank you for the kind gesture.”

A linguist from the University of Ilorin who prefers anonymity, traced the origin of the enigmatic lady, through her tone, to somewhere at Ile-Ife. According to him, linguistic identification rather than any other method would disclose her origin.

He noted: “From the way she speaks Yoruba language, I want to believe that she is closer to Ile-Ife. She may not be a native of the place though; she must have acquired the language as her mother tongue. This means that she might have grown up in the area. The interference of her mother tongue on her Yoruba is much.”

What is most pathetic about the plight of this lady is that some men come occasionally at night to have sexual intercourse with her. Sunday said one of such casanovas always comes in all white attire, around 12 midnight.

He added: “This lady would be crying for help each time the man comes. But some days ago, unknown to him, some young men around laid ambush for him and when he ran into them, he managed to escape but not without being macheted.”

Already, the lady is carrying a pregnancy of about six months. Sources said ‘her lover’ would come back for his baby after delivery.

The Chief Press Secretary to the state government, Alhaji Mas’ud Adebimpe described the development as pathetic and a gross abuse of the dignity of women. He promised that the relevant government body would be directed to take over the management of the lady, until such a time when she could identify her root and her people.

The Kwara State government in collaboration with the proprietor of a psychiatric home called ‘Oluokun’ Sobi Ilorin, now pays for medical and feeding needs of such persons. Besides, it ensures that they are rehabilitated after such treatment and reconciled with their family members.

Sources told The Guardian that the lady might be taken to the place. Besides, one of the members of staff of the home canvassed for more government financial assistance to enable them continue their humanitarian endeavours.

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