The abomination episode 7 – 8

THE ABOMINATION

EPISODE 7

I got a call from an unknown number on the 13th of July asking me if I was Mrs Nneka Kassim. I almost replied my caller by saying, “No, it’s a wrong number” but I changed my mind to answer in the
affirmative. “Yes, I am Mrs Nneka Kassim, how may I help you?” I asked my caller. My name is nurse Deborah calling from Diamond Clinic. Your husband is on admission in our clinic and his condition is very
critical. Your attention is urgently needed to save his life. Delay can be dangerous madam, she said and hung up. It’s true Kassim had hurt me but would I let him die? Nneka you need to put away your anger and save the life of your husband, I encouraged myself. I put a call to Toyin to meet me in Diamond clinic immediately. I chartered a taxi that drove me straight to Diamond clinic.
Without any word from the doctor, I was whisked away to the laboratory where my blood sample was taken and tested. The agitations and fear on the staff faces was worrisome, hence no one was willing to talk to me. Can someone tell me what is happening here? What’s wrong with my husband? I angrily asked a nurse. Ma, only the doctor can talk to you on this, and like you can see he’s running helter skelter trying to save your husband’s life. You just have to remain calm until he’s ready to talk to you. I was really angry because this situation will bring us together without Kassim realising the evil he has done. I tried to be calm but that was not easy. The doctor and the nurses were busy going up and down and talking to each other in a way no one was hearing.
After two hours of tension, I was invited to see the doctor in his office. I insisted Toyin should come along with me but the doctor refused her in. She’s everything to me and I will like her to hear whatsoever is wrong with my husband. No, I will like to talk to you alone for now, the doctor prevailed.
He ordered me to sit down on a chair in front of his desk. Mrs Kassim, it is sad to announce to you that your husband is having a chronic heart condition that require intensive care in China or we lose him in a month. God forbid, my husband will not die, he will live to declare the works of God, I rebuked the doctor sharply. Well, I am a minister of the gospel and I have faith in the healing power of God but I advise you fly your husband to China before it is too late.

I called my in-laws immediately to come down to Lokoja. I was made to deposit N120,000 and two pints of blood was taken from me. Toyin had called baba to join us in prayers and pleaded with him to send some prayer team to us. I was going up and down at the hospital reception not knowing what to do next.

When the prayer team arrived, they swung into action. Their prayers were directed against untimely death. The only sister among the prayer team stopped the prayers and shared her vision with other team members. “While we were praying, I saw brother Kassim in between two women, an old woman and a young lady. They tied his neck with chains, dragging him to an unknown destination. Immediately after the sister’s message, their prayer points changed and the prayer became more intense until the clinic management barged in and requested we lower our voice because our prayers were disturbing other patients in the ward.
I had to sleep by him in the clinic that day. By the following day, my mother-in-law and my brother-in-law had arrived. I tried to brief them about his condition but they seemed to know more about his ailment than I know. They went out to talk and by the time they came in, they requested he should be discharged. This case is not hospital case, we are taking him to the village for traditional treatment. The doctor did not protest at all. I was shocked when he did their bidding without hesitation. I made up my mind to travel with them to the village. I called my colleague in the office to inform him about the development and the need for me to travel to the village. I begged him to cover up for me. The journey
to the village was the end of hiding for my husband.

THE ABOMINATION

EPISODE 8

My husband was taken to a herbalist in Egi-Oyo Ipo, a very small hamlet in Kwara state. The herbalist made some incantations, gave him some concoctions to drink and for the first time his eyes came down.
The smiles on our faces was aborted when the herbalist came to announce to us “I see death on his forehead”. We can only remove this death if only he can confess the secret in his belly. Secret? I shouted.
Kassim why have you hid the secret for this long even to the point of death? The same secret baba pastor wanted you to confess that you refused. Now that you are face to face with death, will you speak up and save your life or keep your secret and die? Even at this Kassim, was not willing to say anything.

His dad was the first to break the silence. He pleaded with the herbalist to let him talk on behalf of his son. Fifteen years ago, Kassim was caught r@ping his mother while I was away at the farm. He was arrested by the youth of our village and taken to Kabiyesi. The ifa priest was invited to seek the face of
the gods and to pronounce judgement on him. We were asked to bring two live cows, twenty one black fowls, seven kegs of palm wine and some monies for sacrifice. We did everything we were asked to do and he was banished from the village for three years. My body went cold on hearing all Kassim’s father had said. So my husband had done this terrible abomination without telling me? No wonder my womb could not conceive even for one day after I married him. I wept as if my eye balls will fall off from its socket. The herbalist checked through his calabash again, “The death sentence is still hanging”, he said.
There are still many atrocities he is yet to confess. He has just seven days to confess or he will join his ancestors in the land beyond, the herbalist warned. I grabbed Kassim and shook him hærd, why do you
want to die untimely? Look at death starring at you, yet you are still hiding secrets, please confess and set yourself free. There is nothing that will be more shocking than what daddy had already confessed on
your behalf. I went on my kneels begging my husband to say something but he was adamant. How can a man be this hærdened even at the face of death? I didn’t know this is the type of man I married, my thoughts were almost louder than words.

Three days has passed but my husband refused to confess and his condition got worsen by the day. Death was all written all over him but he was indifferent. On the fifth day his hands and legs stopped moving. His condition graduated to partial stroke. Toyin wasn’t happy with me because of my r0mance with the diabolical arena because of my unyielding husband. Sincerely, I had forgotten I was a born again Christian until Toyin began to ask me if I followed them to the herbalist. But what could I have done? To sit back while they carry my husband to places I don’t know? I knew I had compromised my faith but there wasn’t any option left for me. We wouldn’t have been here if Kassim had confessed to baba.

More shocking revelations to come….