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Back from the DeadBack from the Dead
[Moving story of a lunatic rescued by a Reverend Sister after 20 years on the refuse dump]
Sun News
Chidi Nnadi & Petrus Obi
21st May '08
Until March 8, this year, she possessed those attributes of a raving lunatic: Long, dishevelled hair, tattered clothes and a ‘comfortable’ home on a garbage mount. For more than 20 years, her abode and food was on an extensive, mountainous refuse dump close to the Intercontinental Bank along University Road, Nsukka in Enugu State.
Throughout those two decades, Mrs Ngozi Ogbe (Nee Obettah Nwaenyi) was presumed by everyone in the neighbourhood to be a mad woman. Until recently, her garments comprised several disgusting layers of rags as she displayed a deep injury on her left foot, which intermittently emitted a repulsive odour, and served as food and home for maggots.
These days, however, the woman has donned a new look. Ngozi, who didn’t have a shower in 20 years, has now been cleaned up, and those tattered attires she used to put on have been discarded, thanks to a Reverend Sister, Ogochukwu Josephine Udeji, who ran into Ngozi by chance and took interest in her. Through the efforts of Sister Udeji and the Catholic Diocese in Nsukka, the former mad woman has now received a new lease of life at the Bishop Shanahan Hospital, Nsukka, where she is getting medical attention.
Beginning of Ngozi’s woes
Ngozi, Daily Sun learnt, has had her travails trailing her right from her mother’s womb. Her father, Obettah Nwenyi, popularly known as Atama, was the chief priest of the Ugwutazu goddess in Isu village in Edem-Ani, Nsukka.
Ngozi’s sister, Mrs Juliana Omeke, told Daily Sun the genesis of the problems in their family. Their mother, a native of Orokarami in Benue State, was the last wife of their father. After a few children, the new wife began having a series of miscarriages before she was conceived of Ngozi.
Determined to ascertain the cause of his wife’s miscarriages, the priest was said to have gone to a native doctor who reportedly told him that one of his senior wives was responsible for his new wife’s miscarriages, promising to ensure that the problem was stopped.
According to Mrs Omeke, their father had entered into an agreement with the native doctor, pledging to pay the native medicine man his full charges if his wife’s miscarriages could be stopped. “But our father refused to pay him after the medicine man succeeded in stopping the miscarriage. As a result, the herbalist became angry and pronounced a curse on Ngozi. He said Ngozi would never be of good benefit to him. It was the curse that affected the innocent child, Ngozi.” Ngozi’s sister said that before their father died, he had confessed that he was responsible for Ngozi’s unstable mind.
The native doctor, the sister also said, had told them to bring Ngozi to his shrine, so that he would cure her of her insanity. Unfortunately, their parents have both passed on hence they couldn’t respond to the herbalist’s request. Before Ngozi went completely insane, she was said to have been married with a child. But when she started exhibiting the traits of insanity, her husband promptly sent her packaging.
Despite that she was living a solitary life on the refuse dump, some callous men were said to have pounced on her one day and raped her. She got pregnant and later gave birth to a boy called Chukwuebuka who is now about 10 years old.
Sister Ogochukwu, who eventually saved Ngozi, was said to have experienced some mental trauma herself for nearly two years. But somehow early this year, the sister overcame her travails, and she has since pledged to always assist those whose world appears to have come to an end.
When Daily Sun visited the hospital to see Ngozi, she was able to recognise her picture taken while she had an unstable mind. “That was when I was still living and eating from the refuse dump,” she said.
She thanked Sister Ogochukwu and the entire Catholic Church for what they have done for her. Chief Medical Director of Bishop Shanahan Hospital, Dr M.I. Ugwu, in a letter to Daily Sun, said Ngozi was responding positively to treatment.
He confirmed that Ngozi was brought to the hospital from the street.
“Initial medical examination revealed a right breast lump, edematous and ulcerated left foot with auto amputation of two toes of the same foot. On admission, she was placed on antibiotics, daily wound dressing and other ancillary medications. However, she has improved remarkably as evidenced by the cessation of irrational and violent behaviour. She communicates better and now has considerable insight into her surroundings.
“We are appealing to well meaning citizens to contribute to her medicare as she still requires attention of the Neuro Psychiatric Hospital, Enugu for further management,” Dr Ugwu said.
Rev. Fr. Idogwu’ story
There was no psychiatric hospital around, and none of the hospitals had a psychiatric department. Yet, we know the legal implications of admitting a psychiatric patient in a non-psychiatric hospital. There were so many problems to contend with. So, His Lordship said we had to make do with what we had, that we must begin from somewhere. He called on the administrator of Bishop Shanahan Hospital, Nsukka and requested him to release a bus so that we could go and try our luck to see if we could persuade her to go to the hospital.
The next day, the people from the hospital came. She was standing in front of the bank and we went there and started to plead with her to board the vehicle, so that we could take her to the hospital. She initially accepted, but she later declined. People gathered and started to imploring her to accept. After much pleading. She agreed to board the vehicle. Because of the clothes she tied around herself, it was difficult for her to enter through the door, so we opened the boot and she boarded the vehicle.
But we were conscious of the fact that if she boarded the hospital like that, other patients would run away. We wanted her to remove all the piles of rags on her, so we took her to one primary school, and we were thinking of what to do. But at the school, another thing came up. She started screaming that we wanted to kill her, that she didn’t know where we were taking her. She even wanted to jump out of the vehicle.
We gave her food which she rejected, saying it was poisoned. At a point, she became violent. Then the sister suggested we pray. I didn’t even know how to pray, but I said God, you know we can do nothing without you, there is absolutely nothing we can do without you. By that time we had dissolved five tablets of some powerful sedative in water to see if she could be sedated. But she took it and nothing happened to her.
After the prayers, she just decided to go and change her clothes. I sent people to go and buy three new scissors to cut the rubbish she was wearing. It was another round of job. From that point she started cooperating. She took her bath and changed her clothes and was taken to the hospital. She has been there cooperating with the doctors and nurses.
Ngozi’s wound
I will tell you that after washing the wound, it was almost impossible for me to drink water. If I reflected on what the wound was like, the maggots that were coming out of the wound, I could only eat because I was terribly hungry. I thank God for what He is using Sister Udeji to do.
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