Trust betrayed; how a school teacher influenced ward to be a gay

By Jimmy Lace, Warri

The Nwankwo family of Okorobi Ndiawa village in Ideato local government area of Imo State who reside in Onitsha, Anambra State are worried about the lifestyle of one of their own, Emmanuel Nwankwo, father of two who has chosen to remain a gay.

Okechukwu Nwankwo an automobile spare parts dealer in Onitsha who is the younger brother to Emmanuel and also has a shop at the Spareparts Market, Effurun- Warri expressed the family worries while speaking to our business correspondent during a survey on how family support boosts entrepreneurship among Ibo businessmen.

It is common knowledge that the Ibo people who are predominantly Catholics help one another in raising the younger members of family through trade apprenticeship after which a learner who successfully and obediently completes the training tenure is settled and provided grant to start his personal business. The network grows and hence there is a proliferation of thriving Ibo businessmen across the nook and cranny of Nigeria.

But the case of of the Nwankwo family is different and unfortunate in that their parents, Mr Godwin and Mrs Louisa Nwankwo( both of blessed memory), instead of attaching the older Nwankwo (Emmanuel) to learn a trade, chose to give him to an uncle, Anthony Udechukwu, a school teacher who they hoped would better the education opportunities of their child. Emmanuel was ten years old when his parents handed him over to Anthony, then a bachelor.

Narrating the story of the ordeal of his older brother while he stayed with the uncle, Okechukwu in an emotion laden voice cursed Anthony for the abomination he caused his older brother to commit and prayed that it would not be better for Athony Udechukwu wherever he may be because of the shame Emmanuel brought to the family through his influence.

“Initially, our uncle was very kind and caring to Emmanuel as he provided him with anything he needed. One day when our uncle came from school my older brother was at home doing his home work; Anthony went into the bathroom to take a shower. After bathing he went into the room and asked Emmanuel to bring his pomade. My brother did that and just as he got within reach, the uncle grabbed him and started massaging his manhood. He was confused but the uncle commanded him to massage his own too and that was how the uncle molested and sexually abused him. According to my brother, our uncle warned him not to tell anyone about the experience which became a daily routine for years. They both lived in the same house and no one would suspect that such an unholy act was going on between them.

“They continued doing that until Emmanuel took ill and that was when he confessed the atrocity they had been committing. My parents summoned a family meeting and confronted Anthony with the allegation which he admitted and we could not bear the shame of the abomination they committed. The matter soon became public and Emmanuel was labeled as ‘Orie Onwake’, which means, gay man. The label took toll on Emmanuel as his peers avoided him. At this time he was already in class three and you can imagine the depth he had gone in homosexuality before we got to know. He could not complete his schooling because of this problem. He was not even ashamed as he said it had become part of him and he enjoyed it even though everyone hated him for it. There was physical threat to his life apart from being avoided and insulted all around. Our uncle understanding the consequence of the abomination against our tradition and custom relocated from Onitsha to only God knows where. At a point Emmanuel began to feel pains of the shame he brought to the family. Our father became very violent, beating him almost every day and practically demonstrating his hatred for him, although our mother still prayed for him to repent and turn a new leaf. One day Emmanuel ran away from home.

“A few years later he returned, he was about 21 years then but never showed signs of repentance rather it looked his case had gone worse. There was no time you would see him with a girl, only boys who we suspected were his fellow gay men. To put a stop to the ongoing abomination our parents decided to get him a wife. He was married to Ngozi, a beautiful young lady from our village. They lived together and had two sons but his wife later found out that he was gay and the young lady could not stand the shame and left the marriage. More pressure was put on Emmanuel by friends who continued to call him ‘Orie Onwake’ or ‘Emma Akwuna’, the gay man. But he was still proud of who he was even when his peers and the community people told him he would have no peace and that one day he would pay for the abomination he has committed and be forced to cleanse the land. When he could no longer bear the pressure without notice, one day he left.

“When he left Onitsha he initially settled in Lagos where he stayed. Two years ago he and Valentine Okoro came home for Christmas. Valentine was one of his friends who had traveled to Lagos years before for trade apprenticeship. We never knew Valentine and Emmanuel were actually husband and wife before he traveled to Lagos where they got hooked up and continued their homosexual relationship.

“In December 2019, they came home for the Christmas and could not hide their mess. Only God saved them on Friday, December 20, 2019 when the youths descended on the pair after a tip off that they were engrossed in love making. They came with machetes and clubs; fell on the two of them who were drunk and dealt heavy blows on them. Valentine had a broken head and a cut wrist; my brother got a red eye and a swollen face. They escaped by the grace of God as no one was ready to come to their rescue. I cannot forget the date, Friday, a few days before Christmas Day of 2019, but he survived and ran out of the town. For some time now I have not heard from him, we spoke by phone early last year when he told me he would travel to Europe. Up till now he is a gay but our greater worry now is we don’t know where he is. You see? That is the evil the teacher did to my older brother.” Okechukwu lamented.