- Bereaved father of 14-day-old baby
IDI Bakyu, a widower and father of a two-weeks-old baby, wore a pensive mien as he sat at the entrance of his house in Obume, a community in Obi Local Government Area of Nasarawa State, surrounded by sympathisers.
A victim of the cash crunch that has hit the populace on account of the naira notes redesigning policy of the Federal Government, he had lost his wife few hours after she was delivered of a baby boy due to the complications that arose from the labour she underwent and his inability as the husband to obtain cash from the bank for his wife’s transportation to the hospital for the urgent medical attention she needed.
He had travelled from Obume to Lafia, the state capital, in the hope of withdrawing money and getting a vehicle to convey his wife to the hospital, but he ended up spending the whole day in the bank without being able to get any money. In the process, his wife and nursing mother bled until she passed away, leaving her two-week old baby behind.
Bakyu, who said he felt a sense of guilt over his wife’s death, told our correspondent that he would not have got her pregnant if he knew there would be no naira notes to cater for her health.
He said: “If I had seen death coming, if I had known that the new naira notes would not be available for me to take care of her medical bills, I would not have allowed her to get pregnant.
“If I had known that getting my wife pregnant would amount to a journey of no return, I would certainly not have impregnated her.
“If I had known that the bank would deny me my money, I would not have opened an account with them.”
For close associates of the Bakyu family, the pains inflicted by the untimely death of his wife, Therizer, is better imagined.
Waiting for four years for the fruit of the womb after marriage, Therizer finally got pregnant and looked eagerly forward to the birth of her first baby.
The day finally came and she had to be delivered of the baby at home because it was difficult to get cash around and the belief that she could be delivered of her baby at home like many other women.
Fate however had other ideas the difficulty in getting cash conspired with the belief that Therizer could deliver the baby on her own became Bakyu’s greatest undoing.
The decased mother was said to have suddenly fallen into labour at about 9 pm on Wednesday February 8, gave birth at about 8 am the following while complications arose and she died at about 7 pm the same day because he could not muster the cash to move her to Lafia for medical attention.
Before her death, Therizer was said to have continually complained of excruciating pains in the stomach after she was delivered of her baby, prompting the husband rush to Lafia in order to access the money in his bank account. However, the CBN policy on naira redesigning prevented him from getting the money he desired.
Narrating his ordeal in an interview with our correspondent, Bakyu said he is the only son of his late parents, and was unable to further his education beyond secondary school and has been a farmer all his life.
He had got married to Therizer about four years ago with both of them residing in the village as farmers. As it turned out, the marriage did not yield any fruit until Therizer took in last year.
Due to incessant attacks by killer herdsmen in the area, Bakyu decided to open a bank account in Lafia to enable him save the proceeds of his farming activities. He said: “I had up to N300,000 in my account, when my wife was pregnant. She was actually attending antenatal in Lafia, coming from the village until mid-January when the scarcity of naira set in and the stress of travelling made her to abandon her routine medical check-ups.
“It became very difficult for us to access our cash in the bank. Two days to her delivery, I spent all my time in the bank trying to get at least N100,000 to buy the items expected for her delivery and probably medical bills, but I could not get cash. I spend all of the two days queuing in the bank without getting cash.
“When she went into labour, the women around the village decided that since there was no cash to facilitate her transportation to the hospital and settle the bills, she should deliver her baby in the village.
“She fell into labour in the evening while I was going from one PoS to another but the charges were too high for me to get the amount I needed for her delivery.
“She was eventually delivered of a baby boy the next morning, but the bleeding did not stop.
“Then, I was already in Lafia trying to get cash to buy what was needed but I couldn’t get any cash, and the women around her kept calling me to arrange a vehicle.
“But it was not possible because there was no cash to buy fuel at N450 per litre and even the fuel not available. That was how my wife bled until she died.”
Bakyu added: “My wife died under extreme pains. I missed her spiritual guidance and intercessions which were key to building our marriage.
“She made me a compassionate person. Her memory would remain fresh in my mind.
“Few days before she went into labour, we were discussing the future of her unborn baby and how she would want her children to be educated, and she was very happy. I never knew that her death was near.
“Man proposes, God disposes. I don’t know how I’m going to manage but I pray God to help me.
“My joy has been stolen. I am only managing. My wife’s demise has left me distraught.”
He recalled how he and his wife had sat down and made plans after she brought him news that she was pregnant with their first child.
The couple, according to him, had even started making arrangements to buy things as they patiently awaited the birth of their first baby.
“I was very happy when she told me that she was pregnant. We sat down, held each other’s hands and talked about our plans for the family.
“My wife was a gift to me. She stood by me through thick and thin. We had started planning for the baby and buying things in readiness for it’s birth.
“We were so happy and really looking forward to the birth of a new baby to join the family soon. We had made the necessary preparations, but God came from nowhere and took away my joy for no reason.
“In 2015 and 2019, I abandoned my farm work to trek a distance to vote for Buhari. I didn’t know that he would introduce a policy that is against his people to the extent that it would take my wife’s life.
“Together with her, we laboured to get our money, opened an account and deposited it there for future use. The time to use the money came and the bank said I could not access it. My wife suffered, bled and died because I could not withdraw our money.
“They took away my wife without any provocation and turned our joy into sadness. God will surely visit whoever implemented this wicked policy with calamity wherever they are.”
Bakyu’s case is like that of many other families who have become victims of death in labour.
During our correspondent’s visit to Ibum village, it he observed that the villagers had yet to overcome the tragedy that recently befell them.
Some of them were seen discussing in hush tones as they appeared to be pondering over their future with the policy since they had deposited all their savings in their bank accounts.
Ibum village is an agrarian community with its residents predominantly relying on subsistence farming as their means of livelihood, but incessant attacks by herdsmen prompted them to start saving their money in the bank where they can’t get it when it is needed.
Recalling his moments with his wife and the dream of seeing their first child: Bakyu said: “I’m afraid to go to bed because I have been having nightmares since my wife left me ” he he said amid tears.
His mother-in-law, Mrs Williams, who was sighted by our correspondent crying helplessly, blame d the federal government for implementing the anti-people policy that denied his son in-law the money to take her daughter to the hospital.
She described her daughter as a well cultured woman who practised what she believed in.
“It is a big blow to my entire family. She was down to earth and humble.
“I pray God almighty to grant her gentle soul eternal rest.
“I will take the little boy home to help my son in-law look after him,” she said.