My husband and I have been struggling to make ends meet, and we have three children. My husband hasn’t been paid salary in months, and we had lots of debt accumulating.
That day, I had just returned from a friend’s house where I went to lend money to prepare food for the family. He had returned from work earlier than I expected. After dinner, I put the children to bed and I started to get ready for bed too. My husband was already laying in bed, and he started to tell me about a rich woman he met on Facebook earlier in the day. I was furious. I cut him off and yelled at him for chatting with women online while I hustled to put food on the table for the family. He laughed and told me the woman is very rich and she could change our lives if I played along. He showed me pictures of the lady and convinced me all our debts could be paid off in no time. I agreed.
He continued chatting with the lady over some few days and introduced me to the lady as his sister during one of their conversations. I even spoke to her briefly too. He came home one day and informed me that the lady wanted them to meet up in Abuja. Abuja was a 3-hour drive from where we lived. I objected and insisted they meet in a hotel in Lagos where we stayed. He told her, and she agreed.
The night they met at the hotel, I was worried and jealous. I knew what we were doing was wrong, but we had lots of debt including rent and I convinced myself he was doing it for the family. He didn’t return home till evening, the next day. He returned with a check of one million naira. I was amazed and excited. We immediately paid rent that was overdue, went shopping for food and paid the children’s school fees. He even bought me a new phone and bought new clothes for me.
They continued their chats and after two months, she invited him to Abuja again. She sent him money for his flight, but he was able to find a cheaper flight and gave me the rest of the money for myself and the kids. He promised to be there for one week and assured me he would call every time. I believed him, and I was not worried. He called when he got there, and even secretly took pictures of the house and sent them to me. It was a huge, expensive and gorgeous house.
He came back home exactly after a week, with a check of five million naira. He said the lady told him to get himself a car with the money. He purchased a 1.8million naira SUV and we rented a three-bedroom apartment in a nice neighborhood. We also changed our children’s school. Life was good. I could now afford designer outfits and shoes. My husband also quit his job since the lady was giving him money steadily. We had no savings, since he could call her anytime and she would take care of us.
He started going to Abuja often and would return home with huge sum of money. One day, he told me the woman told him to come and stay with her permanently and she was complaining about the long-distance relationship. I immediately protested, insisted we had collected enough, and the relationship needs to come to an end. He assured me he would never leave me, and the kids and he had a plan on how to extract more money from her. After much persuasion from him, I agreed.
He went again as usual but this time, he did not call. I tried calling his phone for about three weeks, but he wasn’t picking up. So, I called him with another number and he picked up but hung up once he heard my voice. I realized my husband was playing games with me. So, I sent him a message threatening to tell the lady the truth, but he didn’t respond.
I went on his Facebook and found the lady on his friends list. I sent her a message, telling her I needed to speak to her urgently and she should send me her phone number. She responded two weeks later with her number. I called her and told her all that had happened. She was shocked and hung up on me. I was beginning to feel I had lost my husband and I was going to be raising the kids by myself. I was depressed.
Two days after my call to the lady, my husband returned home. I started to yell at him for abandoning me and he pushed me away. He accused me of ruining all his plans to help the family. We threw insults at each other and we didn’t speak to each other. After a few days, I was tired of the loneliness in the house and went to apologize to him. We made up and he started his job search again. Some weeks after, he fell sick. I took care of him in the house, but I later decided to take him to the hospital since he wasn’t getting better.
After a series of test, the doctor informed us my husband is HIV positive. I was distraught. The doctors immediately insisted I and the kids get tested too. Our result was negative. We spent all our money on hospital bills and drugs and lost all the money we had. We sold the car and properties. We have been given an eviction notice at the apartment also.
I can’t continue to live like this anymore, and since I am not HIV infected, I am thinking of leaving my husband and moving away with my kids. We still have a chance to start our lives again, but his family members have been avoiding us since the illness. They used to visit on a weekly basis when everything was going great. I feel bad I will have to do this to him, but I must do what is best for myself and the kids. Greed brought us to this point.
Shiiit Happens!!! 