My baby died of HIV/AIDS, now my wife wants to distribute it — Blind man reveals
This is a story that touches the heart. Diamond Tabrise, popular called Jejelaiye was a car dealer shining like a thousand stars in Lagos. He owned a house and a car, but today all that had gone down the drain as he is a replica of who fell from grace to grass. His pathetic story began after an evil bird struck his left eye when he was driving from Lagos to his community in Ughelli, Delta State. His first wife abandoned him and his second wife who gave birth to a baby girl lost the child to HIV/AIDS. Although has abandoned the husband but vowed to spread the disease to unsuspecting men in the society. Today, completely blind Tabrise, 62, begs to feed.Here he narrates the story of his life to MATTHEW DIKE. Hear him;
“My name is Diamond Tabrise but many of my friends call me Jjelelaiye (meaning: life is carefulness). I am 62 years old. I’m an Urhobor man, from Okpe,in Sapele, Delta State. I’m a blind man but I was not born blind. My profession is TV, radio, video repairing but I later became a car dealer at Berger car dealers’ spot, Apapa. I have been repairing TV, radio, and fan since 1974. I’m the only one that is blind in our large family. My father married six wives. My mother gave birth to nine children. but we are remaining only seven. I’m her first child. Others had passed away. They are dead.”
Recalling how his first wife abandoned him, Tabrise said “My first wife is Kate. Kate was living at Bale Street, while I was residing at Yinusa Street, both in Ajegunle, Lagos, then. She hails from Edo State. We lived together as husband and wife. I did everything for her. I did everything I was supposed to do about our marriage. I paid her dowry. We were living happily until people began to deceive her in our residence. They brainwashed her. She is a very beautiful girl so they were querying her, saying, ‘why should you marry him? You are too beautiful for this man.’ People were envious of us because she is very pretty.At times I would return from work and find her with her female friend who usually fed her with whatever rubbish lies. One day I returned from work and was shocked to notice that the woman I married with my hard earned money had packed out of her matrimonial home. She said that she was no longer interested in the marriage. She even said if I needed the money I spent for the marriage her family would return it back to me.All efforts made by me, my family and even her own family to reconcile us proved abortive because she bluntly refused to return to the house. The worst thing she did was that she was pregnant for me but aborted the babies. Scanning had earlier proved that she was carrying twin babies.”
On the Genesis of their relationship he said, “Me and Kate stared our relationship in 1985. She was just 16 years old when I started to date her. I was responsible for her school, financially. I married Kate and she packed into my house in 1987.She left with pregnancy to another street called Orodu Street, Ajegunle. Her mother even pleaded with her to return but she refused, saying her mother was among those that persuaded her to leave her matrimonial home in the first place. But she committed an abortion. If she had allowed the pregnancy to be, she would have delivered twin babies but she washed the babies off. She has remarried but as at today she has no child of her own. She abandoned me in 1996 for no just reason. .In 1997 I had to pack out from Yinusa Sanni Street,Ajegunle where I was living to Ikotun Egbe area, in Lagos. I later packed to Agric area , along Badagry expressway, Lagos, in 2002 Now I’m back to Yinusa Sanni Street, momentarily.”
Continuing, the blind man in tears remembered how he was traveling to his village without the premonition that danger was lurking around the corner and the incident that occurred changed the story of his life, negatively.”It was in April, 2002 when I was driving my car- a Toyota Corolla, to my village in Okpe, Sapele, Delta State. I was in company of my three half- sisters. Around Benin I missed my way, instead of driving through Amokpe – Warri road, I moved through Eku road. So on my way we saw a strange bird following us above. The bird later flew into the car and struck me in the left eye. I nearly plunged the vehicle with all the occupants into a river. I only managed to apply break and parked at one side of the road. Tears was gushing out of my eyes. There was no water so I used my urine to wash my eyes. It was around 8pm and when I decided and managed to drive. I moved the car slowly because of my watery eye until we arrived home at about 1am. I never knew that it would result to complete blindness. It spread to the second eye. Before I became completely blind, I went to different spiritual churches and herbalists but to no avail. I went to the General Hospital ,Apapa and also General Hospital, Marine, all in Lagos. At the General Hospital Marina, doctors described it as cataract and glycoma. One of the doctors said I should not remove the eyes or I would become completely blind. I did not remove the eyes and here I am, still blind. I only see shadows. My family also spent over N950,000 for the treatment but no positive result.”
Recalling what some foreigners told him like soothsayers earlier -never to travel back to Nigeria as at that time, shaking his head regrettably, he said, “I travelled to London where I spent about three months and returned to my country. In London an Indian man and a Lebanese warned me not to return home or travel in my car but I never took them serious until this blindness struck me, reducing me to a beggar..(Weeping). It was after the devil had done its wish that I remembered that warning but it was too late now. Because of the problem I had to sell my house at Ikotun Egbe and also sold my last car, a Mitsubishi Coupe.”
On how he met another woman and also how he knew that his wife and baby had HIV/AIDS: “After the death of my mother in 2005, in 2006 I got another woman who loved me even in my blindness. Her name is Patience. And as her name implies, she had so much patience with me. She is better than Kate. She is very caring, loving and merciful. She also hails from Edo State. Before she abandoned me (shaking his head bitterly) she gave birth to my only child -a baby girl I named Favour. Unfortunately for me, Favour died of HIV/AIDS at the age of one and a half years. I never knew she was suffering from HIV/ AIDS. it took a long time before I knew and she was rushed to Lagos University Teaching Hospital, Ward D, Idiaraba, Lagos, where she later gave up the ghost in 2012 but was born on May 30, 2010. Her mother was also tested and she too was HIV positive. Because of her condition she did the unexpected. My wife abandoned the baby at the hospital and ran away after she knew that she had HIV/AIDS. The doctors said that the child contracted HIV/AIDS through breastfeeding. I was also tested but the result was negative. I’m free of HIV/AIDS. One day the doctors called me that my wife had abandoned the baby at the hospital and took to her heels. She is still living with the HIV/AIDS and had vowed to spread the disease to unsuspecting men because she did not want to die alone.. I tried to reach her on phone but her handset was switched off. Although Patience had delivered a girl for another man before I knew her.”
He added that Patience “Is a good woman. Very caring. Kind. Honest. and generous.I love her more. I love her more than Kate. She was guiding me to see my friends, some of whom I had helped when I still had my good eyes. Now they would give me money, including members of my family. I usually board a bike to Boundary market , Ajegunle, and give whatever money with me to the market women who would buy whatever I needed like food stuff.”
“I live in our family house now., at the same Yinusa Sanni street, Ajegunle. The problem I have now is I don’t know who usually open my door whenever I left the house. The thief would steal my garri and soup. I know how to make my soup. I do it gently. If I buy kerosene, I will cook. I don’t know whether the thief prefer to be in my condition as a blind man. I pray that God will arrest and expose the thief some day.. I want to plead with people to always assist anybody that is blind. It is not our making that we are blind. If not for the demonic bird that struck me in the eye which affected the other eye, by now I would have remained a successful businessman. I’m not lazy. I’m very hardworking. I want to say that I’m very uncomfortable being blind. Blindness is the worst disease that can happen to anybody especially when you were not born blind, having seen many colours and later be in the dark, seeing only shadows. It is only shadow that I see now,. Blind people should not feel lazy. They should look for a walking stick that will aid their movements. I usually go to drinking joint to while away the time and forget my sorrow. Anybody in my shoes must be suffering from a sort of psychological trauma. I want Nigerians to help me because it is difficult for me to buy food and eat. That was why I usually sell my handset when I’m very hungry and had no money. I pray that nobody should be in this my present condition, especially anybody that have made little or huge money. Even nobody should experience it. It is the worst experience!” He advised.
