29/11/2025
I kicked open my husband’s casket at the burial ground, and instead of his dead body, I found a fresh BANANA TREE STEM dressed in his best suit.
I am currently hiding in the village police station. The elders are outside with machetes. They want to kill me for "desecrating the land."
But I don't care. I want the world to know that Obinna is NOT dead.
My name is Nneka. I have been married to Obinna for four years.
Two weeks ago, I received a call that my husband collapsed at his workplace in Lagos and died of "Cardiac Arrest" before they could reach the hospital.
My world ended.
I fainted three times. I rolled on the floor. I tore my clothes.
Obinna was my life. We had no children, but we had each other.
His family immediately took over. His brothers came with a bus and carried his "co**se" from the hospital mortuary to the village in Umuahia.
They told me, "Nneka, according to our tradition, a childless woman must not see the co**se of her husband until the final dust to dust. If you look at him, you will go blind."
I begged. I cried. "Let me see his face one last time!"
But his uncle, Papa Ugo, refused. "Do you want to die? Respect the tradition!"
I sold my provision store. I sold my car. I emptied my savings account.
I gave them 4 Million Naira for a "befitting burial." I wanted my husband to rest like a King.
Today was the burial.
The atmosphere was heavy. The women were wailing. The men were drinking palm wine.
The casket was beautiful. It was white and gold.
But as the pallbearers were lowering the coffin into the grave, my spirit became restless.
I had a dream last night. In the dream, Obinna was laughing at me. He was eating chicken and drinking wine.
Something told me, "Nneka, open that wood."
I stood up.
"Stop!" I shouted.
The music stopped. The crowd looked at me.
"I must see him!" I screamed, running towards the grave.
Papa Ugo blocked me. "Are you mad? Do you want to bring a curse upon us?"
"Let the curse come!" I pushed the old man. Adrenaline gave me the strength of ten men.
I jumped into the shallow grave. I grabbed the hammer from the undertaker.
"Nneka, don't try it!" Obinna’s brothers shouted, rushing towards me.
But I was faster.
I used the hammer to smash the lock of the casket. I ripped the lid open.
The crowd gasped.
There was no Obinna inside.
There was a thick, heavy Banana Stem.
It was dressed in the expensive Italian suit I bought for him last year. They even put his cap on the top of the stem.
"Where is my husband?!" I screamed, holding the banana stem.
The brothers froze. Papa Ugo started shaking.
Suddenly, my phone vibrated in my pocket.
It was a notification from Instagram.
My younger sister, Chidinma, had just posted a picture.
I opened it with trembling hands.
It was a picture of her and a man, holding glasses of champagne in a First Class airplane cabin.
The location was tagged: "Japa to Canada - New Beginnings."
The man kissing her cheek... was Obinna.
My dead husband.
The caption read: "Goodbye Nigeria! Me and Baby are off to start a new life. God is faithful!"
My phone fell into the grave.
Obinna didn't die.
He faked his death. His family knew.
They used me. They made me sell everything I had to pay for a "funeral" that was actually their flight ticket money.
My own sister? My own husband?
I climbed out of the grave with the hammer in my hand.
I didn't cry. The tears dried up instantly.
I looked at Papa Ugo. "You knew?"
He looked down. "Nneka, it is not like that... Chidinma is pregnant for him. You are barren. We needed an heir."
I swung the hammer.
Pandemonium broke out.
Now I am at the station. The DPO is saying it is a "family matter."
I have nothing left. No husband. No sister. No money. No shop.
But I have this picture saved on my phone.
Obinna thinks he has escaped. He thinks Canada is far.
He forgot one thing.
I have his passport number saved in my Google Drive. And I know a runz girl who works with Canadian Immigration.
I am not sad anymore. I am on a mission.
If I can't have him, nobody will.
Should I report him to Immigration and get him deported back to this grave I dug for him? Or should I leave them to God?
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