by 
When Danladi Funtuwa, 38, an auto mechanic from Nasarawa Eggon area
of Nasarawa State, working in ‘mechanic village’ on Bukan Sidi in
Lafia, and his wife, Salamatu Maka, 31, a seamstress from Wamba Local
Government Area of the state, met in 2013 in Lafia, during an
empowerment programme of Governor Tanko Almakura, it was like love at
first sight.
That love turned a remarkable corner when in
March 2014, they got married and began to live as husband and wife in
Shabu, Lafia. But some four years down the line, the love made in
heaven has become shattered on earth, no thanks to fertility
challenges.
What God has joined let no man put asunder, the
Old Book says. But it is most painful when the man used in putting
asunder that union is your bosom friend. This is the truth that hit
home as our correspondent sat through a session in which Salamatu told a
stunning tale of how she was impregnated by her husband’s best friend,
Mr. Francis Kulungu, 35, an indigene of Awe Local Government Area of
the state and a land and property agent in Lafia.
Bubble burst
The
bubble burst when Mr. Funtuwa, in anguish, reported to the Chief of
Shabu, Alhaji Sulieman Abdullahi, the three-month pregnancy his wife
was carrying for his best friend. In an interview with Saturday Sun, he
talked about how he started suspecting his friend’s affair with his
wife when he started frequenting his house, on the pretext of paying a
friendly visit, even when he (Funtuwa) was not around.
“Owing
to the nature of my work as a mechanic, I close very late, but each
time I got home after that I would meet him sitting outside and waiting
for me or I would be told he had just left,” Funtuwa told our
correspondent. “Some of my neighbours who suspected something fishy
between them complained to me about the man’s closeness to my wife and
wondered aloud what the kind of friend he is, saying he was always
visiting and chatting with my wife in her shop.”
Having been
alerted, Funtuwa decided to keep a close but surreptitious watch on the
two. But over a four-month period, his trap caught nothing tangible he
could use to openly confront them over their evil deed. Didn’t a
proverb say that as you monitor the moves of an animal trapped inside a
hole so does it from there monitor your moves too? So it was with the
two lovebirds engaged in an illicit affair and Funtuwa.
Foolproof trap
When
his efforts seemed to have drawn a blank, he hit on a seemingly
foolproof idea, which he felt he could use to nail them once and for
all. On May 14, 2017, he lied to his wife that he was going to Kaduna
to buy a Peugeot 406 engine for one of his customers’ car and that the
trip would keep him away for three days.
But rather than
travel as he had made her believe, he stayed in a neighbour’s house
hoping to monitor his wife’s movements from there. The following day,
he returned to the house at about 12:30pm in the middle of the night
only to discover to his dismay that his wife was nowhere to be found.
Further move to know her whereabouts was thwarted by his discovery that
her phone was permanently switched off for the two days duration.
Unknown
to him, his wife and his friend, Kulungu, had left Lafia, the same
day, for a visit to his (Kulungu’s) younger brother, schooling at the
College of Education, Akwanga, and spent two days there. At the end,
the wife returned only to meet an enraged husband waiting for her at
home.
“That was the beginning of the problem,” Funtuwa icily
observed. “I demanded to know where she went. She was too tongue-tied
to talk. From that time till now, we’ve not had sex because she was
unwilling to tell me where she went. I reported the matter to her
parents and they supported me to insist on knowing where she went.
For
a long time, she continued to remain taciturn. On Sunday, July 30,
2017 matters took a turn for the worse as the enraged husband changed
tactics, drew a cutlass and threatened to kill her right in their
bedroom if she refused to open up. “At 11pm, when I could no longer
hold my anger, I drew a cutlass I bought last year to protect myself in
case of an attack and asked her to say her last prayers as I was going
to kill her. She started pleading for her life. But all her pleas fell
on deaf ears as I told her firmly that I would only spare her life if
and only if she told me the truth and nothing but the truth about her
two days trip without my knowledge and about her relationship with my
friend (Kulungu).”
Midnight confession
Having
been so cornered with no way of escape, Salamatu opened up and began
to sing. She told him all she knew about the affair that she said
started with Kulungu in April. She confessed that she was actually the
one who seduced him into the secret love affair and she did that to
know whether her inability to conceive for the past three years they’d
been married is hers or husband’s.
On the mystery surrounding
the two days trip away from her matrimonial home, she revealed that
Kulungu took her to his younger brother’s apartment in Akwanga where
they had fun for two days. Crying profusely, she earnestly pleaded for
forgiveness, adding that her desire to have a child led her into trying
another man to know where the problem is and that’s why she couldn’t
use condom. In fact, at the end of the confession, she confirmed to him
that she was actually three months pregnant courtesy of Kulungu.
No holds barred
In
an exclusive interview with Saturday Sun, Salamatu confirmed her
husband’s story and hinged her reason for going into the secret love
affair with her husband’s friend on her impassioned desire to have a
baby after marriage. She regretted her husband’s inability to bring that
about more than three years after their wedding.
Her
account: “A year after our marriage, we went to Dalhatu Specialist
Hospital, Lafia, to carry out some tests to know why I have not
conceived. The tests showed that my husband has low and watery sperm
count and as a result might not be able to impregnate a woman except
something was done about it.
“The hospital treated and
certified him fit after six months. Yet, there was no pregnancy. We
went back to the hospital and the result certified both of us fit and
fertile, yet nothing happened. In March 2017, our marriage was exactly
three years old without a child. All my mates in marriage have two
children each. I was tired of answering questions from colleagues and
friends
“Kulungu, my husband’s friend, is a regular caller at
the house and we became friends. When I narrated this problem to him,
he showed much concern about it and suggested fertility test for both
of us. We did it last year, around May, at the specialist hospital and
the result showed that both of us are okay. Since we are very close, I
decided to ask him for help by soliciting for sex with him, to
ascertain where the problem is since they said my husband and I are
okay. At first, he entertained fears but I assured him that it was
going to be something confidential and nobody would know about it.
After much pressure, he accepted.
“Our first meeting was on
April 8, 2017 at Dunami Hotels, Lafia. I footed the hotel bill. We had a
marathon session that lasted the better part of the night. I didn’t
use any protection because I was ovulating. In the morning before we
departed, we had a quickie. It was a parting gift for me and he kissed
me goodbye. That month’s end, I missed my period. After that month, I
conducted a pregnancy test and it was confirmed positive. I broke the
news to Kulungu, he was delighted about it, though he wanted me to
abort it. I refused and vowed that I will keep the child.”
Fight back
That
has put her husband, Funtuwa, in a state of confusion as he vowed not
to keep someone else’s blood in his house. “I told her parents about
this development and they simply asked me to send her packing to go
meet the said Kulungu, and that she should never come to them for
anything,” he said. “They sympathised with me. I have already asked her
to leave my house within 30 days, though the chief has asked me to seek
divorce through a court but that is a long process. Moreover, I don’t
have money to hire a lawyer.”
He is hopeful of remarring
someday but not any moment soon immediately as he does not keep
girlfriends outside marriage. He, however, promised to commence the
search for another wife after Salamatu might have left his house within
the 30 days ultimatum.
No shaking
The
wife, hardly moved by all the hoopla, said she is prepared for
anything. She told our correspondent that her husband has a serious
problem with low sperm count and may likely run into the same problem if
he gets married without having the problem permanently solved.
“Staying with him will amount to a waste of time,” she said. “I’m ready
to leave his house within the specified time. I have a handwork
(tailoring) with which I can take care of the baby.”
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