For 16 years, I walked Enugu streets naked ― Nneka

www.odogwublog.com brings you the sad story of a woman who suffered madness for more than a decade but miraculously regained her sanity as was published in The Sun by Obinna Odogwu.

From OBINNA ODOGWU, Ekwulobia
The heartrending story of Mrs Nneka Nweke (real names withheld) who recovered from acute insanity is not one that could be told or forgotten in haste. She was literally pulled out from the lion’s jaws. In three different occasions, she suffered acute mental disorder with the last one living her walking the streets of Enugu State stark naked. But unless you were once in her former condition, or had a close relation who had suffered such, you would certainly not understand the pathetic pain when she tells you her hellish sojourn. She had her first episode in 1999.
With streams of tears pouring down her chin, the 30-year-old mother of three told Daily Sun her heart-touching story when she was about leaving Enugu State University of Technology Neuropsychiatric Hospital, Emene to her home town of Isuochi in Umunneochi Local Government Area of Abia State. Throughout the long period her ordeal lasted, she told Daily Sun that she was beaten, poked, and cajoled by some heartless people when she accosted them for food, leaving her with bruises all over her body.
Although Nneka could not trace the genesis of her problems in these three periods it occurred, she recalled that she had come back from Lagos State with the mental challenge after their landlord had thrown their properties out to the street for their inability to pay their house rent. She told our reporter that their shoe business in Lagos had collapsed forcing her family to live from hand to mouth. At the moment, she disclosed that her husband was still “squatting with a friend” while still struggling to bounce back.
But as a fellow whose Chi in the words of Prof. Chinua Achebe in his famous Things Fall Apart was still alive, a good Nigerian, Mr Endi Ezengwa came to her rescue on a fateful Sunday while her aggressors, as usual, descended on her in front of Toscana Hotels, Enugu, beating and wounding her all over.
Nneka whose speech was interrupted by intermittent outburst of tears told our reporter that she nearly gave up her ghost as the attack had become unbearable.
Hear her: “This is just a very long story. Occasionally, I used to have mental illness. This is the third time it is happening. When it starts like this, it would seem like my head is scattered all over. I won’t know what I’m saying or doing. My entire attitude would no longer reflect that of a sane fellow. It would be like the world is turned upside down for me. I can’t actually recall when it started but I know this particular case is getting to two years now. The first time it happened, they took me to Psychiatric Hospital, New Haven, Enugu. It was cured at the place but after some time, it started again.”
“I’m married. I got married in 2004 with 3 children now. My husband is living in Lagos but he is squatting with somebody as he has no apartment of his own. I left Lagos to the Eastern Nigeria around August last year. I’ll say I came back with this latest ill-health but I can’t really recall given the condition I found myself” she added even as she prayed God to “furnish Endi Ezengwa for coming to my rescue; for saving my life even when he does not know me. May God embarrass him with mouth-watering blessings.”
But on the cause of her recurring mental disorder, Dr Ezeme Mark Sunday, a Consultant Psychiatrist in ESUT Teaching Hospital, Enugu who handled her case disclosed that “the cause of mental illness is multi-factorial.”
“There is hereditary component, environmental component. Part of the hereditary aspect of it is that some people may have it in their lineage such that it runs in their family. Then the environmental aspect of it has to do with challenges we face every day. It can be as a result of substance abuse, it can be as a result of stress such as stress in the family, place of work; and before one could come down with symptoms, there has to be interactions of all these factors depending on somebody’s genetic constitution, one would be more predisposed to developing the illness than another. So those who are predisposed when they are exposed to some of these environmental stressors they tend to break down.”
“In her own case because we couldn’t get any of her relatives to interview them, we wouldn’t know whether it runs in their family or not, but there are psychosocial stressors in her life which are unemployment, poverty, and others. She had affective disorder and she is very lucky to have been healed.”
Meanwhile, Mr Endi Ezengwa, CEO Kiara Group who came to her rescue, although corroborated Nneka*, regretted that the decayed state Nigeria’s society has degenerated to people inflicting further pains on others who ordinarily should command people’s sympathy. He also lashed out at some of the Psychiatric Hospitals in Enugu who expect financial gratification before they could do their paid job.
He told Daily Sun that in “this particular incidence, I met Nneka* at the gate of a hotel in Enugu. She was being tormented by people. I think she was hungry because she hadn’t eaten for two days. She was apparently trying to ask for some food and she was being beating. I first stopped them from beating her and arranged for her to be taken to a psychiatric hospital. At that time she was stark naked with bruises on her back; injuries on her head, hands and all over her body. So I took her to ESUT Neuropsychiatric Clinic, Emene. It was on Sunday evening, so it was quite difficult. They took her in and I paid for the medical bills.”
“I can’t really tell my motivation for doing it. It is just something inside me; it’s passion to cater for people who are under-privileged. Not necessarily those who have mental illness. When I see someone who is weak; I like to develop human beings holistically whether it is education, health, it’s about getting someone whole. So in this case, hers was really, really horrible. I don’t know what could have happened to her that night but thank God I was able to take her to psychiatric clinic. She said she had her first episode in 1999.”
He narrated further: “I called her to come but people were shouting no, no, no; that she would rub dirt on you. I was well dressed but I wasn’t scared about her. She came and someone brought food to her while I arranged for her to be taken to a psychiatric hospital. When I got there, they declined to come, with the reason that it was Sunday but I did what I had to do to motivate them. I hired Keke NAPEP with which she was transported to the clinic with two officials of the clinic with us. Again they declined to admit her saying that she does not have any person to stay with her. I’m new in Enugu and so I don’t have anybody I could have asked to come and stay with her. So the other option was to bring her here. But by the time we got here in Emene around 7pm they refused to take her too. But I told them, look, ‘I am not going to leave her on the streets. You just have to take her in.’ I insisted. In fact, I had to do what I had to do also for them to admit her. I paid her fees and other things and rest is now history.”
He however advised the government to “put together a constructive community mental health care management system that would take care of the mentally challenged people instead of allowing them to move about in the streets and exposing themselves to cruel attacks, noting that “a society is gauged or assessed by the quality of life of the vulnerable people in it and not for those who are rich. It’s how they take care of the sick, the poor, the aged, etc. That is how you check the quality of life of the people. But unfortunately, in Africa we measure the society by the affluence of those who’re on top.”