A man, Sunday Odinaka, has reportedly abandoned his wife, Evelyn, after she delivered a set of triplets in a private hospital in Okpoko, in the Ogbaru Local Government Area of Anambra State.
Sunday, a native of Ubaraekwem, in the Ihiala LGA of the state, was said to have fled his residence on Obodoukwu Road following his inability to meet up with the hospital bill of over N450,000.
A source said, “Before the birth of the triplets — two boys and a girl — the couple had four kids. They were compelled to withdraw their children from school due to financial problems.”
Narrating her ordeal to journalists on Thursday in the hospital, Evelyn, a petty trader, said her husband, who had expected only a baby from the pregnancy, disappeared after telling the hospital management he was going to bring the money.
She said, “Before I gave birth to the triplets, there was nothing in the house to eat. I sell sachet water and my husband has no job. Sometimes, he will do some menial jobs from which we eat.
“We have been living from hand to mouth until the arrival of the triplets and the trouble became worse. My husband has been complaining about how to afford the hospital bill even before I gave birth, believing I will deliver just one baby.
“But on sighting three of them, coupled with the four kids that are not adequately fed, he abandoned us for two weeks now. Worse still, he has no phone for us to call.
“I am sure the N450,000 bill he was asked to pay due to the complication I had was the major reason he abandoned us.
“My daughter that I usually send home to get hot water for bathing the triplets said she has not set her eyes on her father.
“My daughter said somebody told her that her father swore never to return until he was sure the hospital bill had been settled.”
Evelyn said she had raised N50,000 from friends and well-wishers and appealed to the wife of the state Governor, Chief Ebelechukwu Obiano, to come to her rescue.
“Before my husband fled, he submitted a petition to the office of the first lady and the commissioner for women and children welfare that I gave birth to triplets and needed help, but no response,” she added.
The Anambra State Chairman of the Civil Liberties Organisation, Vincent Ezekwueme, said the family was in dire need of financial assistance not only for settling the hospital bill but feeding the babies.
He appealed for a job for Sunday to enable him to fend for his family.
