It was a cool evening at the Lafia township stadium on Thursday, November 26 and Mrs Justina Agbumi sat with other fun seekers to watch the evening training of Nasarawa United football players.

But while everyone else seemed to be having fun as they watched the professional footballers juggle the ball, the same did not seem to be the case with Justina as she sat quietly, looking sober.

Her pensive mien was in contrast with the gay mood of the nine-month-old baby in her bosom as he suck away playfully on a bottle of soft drink.

Justina has virtually turned into a recluse after the painful death of her husband and her abominable act with a young man her husband had with another woman outside wedlock.

Seeing that she was childless for 19 years after she got married to her husband, Donald Agbumi, and curious to establish whether she was indeed barren, she decided to put her fertility to test with the young man that was staying with them, not knowing that the young man in question is the biological son of her husband.

It was the culmination of a game of deceit between the couple as Donald had brought in the young man and introduced him to Justina as one of his relatives from the village.

The efforts our correspondent made for one week to speak with Justina after a hint of the incident was dropped by one of her neighbours finally yielded result on Thursday at the Lafia township stadium where she agreed to speak about the matter.

Justina revealed how their relationship which was once the envy of many became laced with frustration, hate and abuse, such that neighbours and friends became peacemakers before the marriage was dissolved.

In an emotive voice, she recalled that with assault, name calling, abuse and starvation, the past 15 years had been the worst of her life simply because they didn’t have a child.

“It got to a point that I asked myself if I was still living with the same man I married.

“He suddenly became a beast, calling me barren, harlot and useless, just because I couldn’t take in,” she said as she fought back tears.

She continued: “He was my best friend before we got married. We were ready to have children as quickly as possible so we could move on.

“But after five years and more, there was nothing. I didn’t take in, so I became worried.

“We went for several tests but we were told I had no problem but my husband had low sperm count and he needed to regulate his diet, which we did, but nothing changed.

“Because he is the only son, his mother had already become hostile to me, visiting regularly from the village while my husband also joined her in frustrating me.

“Before then, I visited places my faith would ordinarily not permit to, because all I wanted was a child. Yet nothing came out of it.

“That was how I started living alone. I cried daily but that didn’t bring any succour.

One day, I got an idea and decided to test my fertility with another man. I realised that would be adultery of the highest order, but I also felt it would be lesser sin if it was with my husband’s relation who was staying with us. I drew the young man closer and made him my best friend since my husband had stopped making love to me for close to seven months.

“Luring Godwin to start sleeping with me was a difficult decision but I was also considering my age.

“I had never cheated on my husband before, but I had reached the limit of my endurance and the circumstances around me was not in my favour.

“I concluded that I would test my fertility through Godwin.

“I had seem Godwin’s crotch during house cleaning, so I realised that his manhood was big enough to give me satisfaction, though he was only about 17 years old.

“I started admiring him anytime my husband went to work. I would summon courage and make advances to him, drawing him closer to me with petty items.

“In no time, he succumbed and we started having sex, though he was not too perfect because he had not been into it.

“But I was teaching him. I also warned him never to reveal it and threatened to kill him if he opened up to anybody.

“We progressed in that direction, especially during my ovulation period. In no distant time, he was able to impregnate me. I missed my period three months after.

“I was very happy that the plan to test my fertility worked and that what my husband could not do for years, Godwin did within a short time.

“One fortunate thing was that Godwin himself did not know that he was responsible for it.

“Unfortunately for me, I didn’t know that Godwin was actually the biological son of my husband. The entire family hid it from me so that I would not victimise him.”

A twist had occurred in the matter when Godwin secured admission into the College of Education Akwanga and was travelling to commence registration when he had an accident that claimed his life.

“He died before I was delivered of a baby boy,” Justina said. (Credit, except for amended headline: The Nation)

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