New Telegraph

GBV: Ending harmful widowhood practices

In Ebonyi State, widows have continued to be deprived of their husband’s properties with some ostracized over the properties. It is against this backdrop that European Union -United Nations Spotlight Initiative is seeking an end to the harmful practice against the widows, UCHENNA INYA reports

Mrs. Patience Christopher, 76, a native of Ndiezi Okereke, Enohia Nkalu in Afikpo North local government area of Ebonyi state, lost her husband in 1999, with seven children left behind for her to cater for.

He also left some landed properties for her from which she can sell and use the proceed to train the children. But some members of the community have deprived her from having access to those lands, they have sold the lands.

She said she tried stopping them from doing so by making them understand that the lands were not communal lands but belonged to her husband. All her efforts was fruitless as she was humiliated. According to her, the people believed that she has no right as a woman over those lands and allegedly ostracized her and some other widows in the community who also tried to oppose the selling of their husband’s lands too.

The woman who is a member of Ndi Uwakwe Oke Okpa lineage in the community and who broke down in tears while narrating her ordeal to New Telegraph alleged that she had to buy lands to cultivate crops to enable her feed her children but that the people who sold all her husband’s lands went and destroyed all the crops after beating up a labourer she hired to make mounds for her on the lands she bought.

She said, “Since 2016, they have been selling our husband’s lands and they deprived us from enjoying social amenities in our community provided by government. We are not allowed to fetch water from public hand pump borehole provided by government for our community, we don’t go to social events like weddings, burials, markets and church.

Our community people have excommunicated and have been preventing people from visiting us. Anyone they see that talks to us, they impose fine on the person, we are like outcast just because we told them to stop selling our late husband’s lands because they are not communal lands.

“They have extended the torture on us to our children. One of my sons, Eze Uwa was working in his shop and they went there, carried him to our playground and tortured him to near death. They have destroyed all our crops in the land we bought and cultivated since they have sold off our husbands lands.

They have levelled the mounds we made and planted those crops. We have to buy lands from outsiders for farming since they have claimed ours and they still came to those lands to destroy our crops.

“I hired a man to make mounds for me onalandIboughtfromoutsider, theycame attacked him, ceased his hoe and cutlass and the N15,000 cash. We have resolved to be buying foods in the market since they don’t allow us to cultivate farms for foods.

Dotheywantustodieof hunger?” Another widow in the community, Catherine Uka Ude, a mother of four whose husband died in 2017 also cried out and alleged that members of her husband’s community have all claimed her husband’s landed properties, also ostracized her for opposing them. “I opposed the people of Enohia Nkalu for selling my husband’s lands. They told me that I was taking too much and that I didn’t have right over them.

They sold all my husband’s lands and I went and farmed on my father in-law’s own. One day, they went and levelled that my farm, I cried bitterly as a widow. “I left that my father in-law’s own and bought land and farmed again and they chased me away from the land. They brought guns to the farm to come kill me but I was lucky not to be in that farm that day.

They have stopped me from fetching public water supply provided by government. They have prevented people from selling things to me in the community; they have also stopped me from selling to people.

“There wasa dayI went andharvested fishes andpackage them to sell andmake money to feed my four children that my husband left for me andI was not allowed to sell it in our community. I carried it and trekked to a far community to sell and I went very late. Those who would have bought the fish in that far community toldmethattheyhavefinishedpreparing soups before my arrival to sell the fish. I have suffered a lot.

I want what is due to me to come to me. They should give me myhusband’sproperty, theyshouldstop enjoying my husband’s wealth because he is no more alive,” she said. In Amagu Community, Abakaliki local government area of the state, it is a taboo for a woman to inherit landed property in her father’s house or late husband’s home.

Traditional ruler of the community, HRH Fidelis Nwonumara disclosed this during a day ‘Advocacy Dialogue’ with the traditional leaders to seek their support for elimination of all forms of Violence Against Women, Children, especially the Girl- Child (VAWG) in the local government. The programme was organised by National Orientation Agency (NOA) with support from European Union United Nations (EU-UN) Spotlight Initiative.

He explained that it will be difficult for the custodians of cultures in the community to abolish some of the cultures like given landed property to female child. He said that no one is violating the right of a woman or girl-child.

“In our tradition, nobody gives inheritance to a woman or girl. There is no way you will give landed property to your girl-child who is married to another place; it will bring big problems to our place.

“For instance, I have 20 female children and they are married to different places, will they come from their husband places toinheritlanded property hereinmy place? Amagu people said it is not done, that it is a taboo in Izzi culture.

What we do is that if a woman does not have a male child, if the husband dies, a family member from thehusbandsidewilltakeoverthewoman andstartmarryingher. Thepersonwillalso take over the man’s property and begin to take care of the family of the late brother. “We do not maltreat female child or woman, nobody will throw away his child because she is a female. It’s just that our tradition does not accept giving landed property to the woman.”

Some of the traditional rulers in Izzi clam called for bye-laws in various communities in the area to end violence against women and girls. They admitted that there are some parts of their cultures that are against women and girls aside female genital Mutilations.

They opined that bye-laws in the communities will help eliminate such harmful practices like denying women and girl children landed properties and other inheritance due to them in their fathers or husbands places. One of the traditional rulers, HRH Eze Mathew Ukpa of Okpitumo community told a story of a mother of four children whom her husband beat frequently and chased out with the children from his community and how he ended the ill treatment with the help of an NGO; Child Protection Network brought the man to sanity with some conditions.

Inaremarkonwaystopreventharmful practicesagainstwomen, girlsandchildren, Chief Uzoigwe Chukwuma said, “I am a teacher. Gender based violence should be taughtinschools, itshouldformpartof the schoolcurriculumasthiswillhelpthegirls toknowwhatitisallabout andtheirrights. Takeforinstanceif thereisaplacetheycan report if such is done to them it will help.

Also HRH Eze Pius N. O Ngele of Ndiegu Okpitumo community, noted, “this things we are saying is very much in Izzi land, as I am here now if I die, none of my daughters should inherit any of my property, our law does not allow that and it is very bad and very difficult these days. And my community Secretary was saying here that we made bylaws, yes it is true, I am suggesting if such law can be done in local government level, it will help more.

“If you go to the old generation of Izzi land, anywomanthatgivesbirthtoonlyfemale children has nothing to inherit from the husbands wealth, even the husband willabandonherandmarryanotherwoman immediately no matter how industriousorhardworkingthewomanmaybe, he will overlook the woman as if he is not the father of the girls. Such bylaw will help.”

EU-UN spotlight Initiative coordinator in charge of Cross River and Ebonyi state, Emmanuel Oloruntoba in his speech noted that reason for the advocacy dialogue was to seek support of the traditional leaders to eliminate all forms of violence against women and girls. Oloruntoba who described such tradition against the widows as harmful and age-long, called for concerted efforts to end it.

He said, “this is a long age tradition, it will not stop overnight, it will stop gradually. When you askthewomentolisttheformsof violence they are experiencing, they will list deprivation of their late husbands properties as number one because they feel that their rights is being trampled upon; how can I marry a man and he dies and the relatives will not allow me to have anything? “The truth is that this is violence against women and girls but we are working hand in hand with traditional rulers, stakeholders in the community, men and girls to see how we can form a coalition to battle violence against women and girls in the community.

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