***6 children drop out of school because of poverty
***Family cries out to Governor Ifeanyi Okowa

By Godwin Oghre

MOSOGAR—A 41-year-old mother of six, three boys and three girls, Mrs. Eunice Ogume, who has been in critical condition with an eye ailment for the past 10 years at Mosogar community, Ethiope West Local Government Area, Delta State,  is in dire need of N1.5m for what doctors describe  as “complicated eye surgery.”

The children between the ages of five and 28 years have all dropped out of school due to the heavy expenses their 57-year- old commercial motor cyclist father, Mr Oyibo Ogume, could not shoulder.

Mrs. Eunice Ogume

The couple appealed to the governor of Delta state, Dr. Ifeanyi Okowa, and good Samaritans to come to their aid to enable her to seek urgent medical attention at the Delta State University Teaching Hospital, DELSUTH or University of Benin Teaching Hospital, UBTH, Benin City.

Mrs. Ogume confirmed that they cohabited for 21 years and got married formally only 10 years ago, adding that  her husband took her to an Eye Clinic at Awolowo road, Sapele, whose owner is now dead when the problem started in 2006.

She said the late eye physician referred her to St. Bridget Hospital in Benin City where tests were done in the eye, chest and head, adding: “When he saw the result of the tests, he told us that he did not see anything wrong, so we presumed that it could be a spiritual problem.

Spiritual problem

“So we started moving from one church to another while the eye was developing a swell in the head and I was occasionally fainting. When we could not get any solution from the churches, we again went to back to the hospital. We met Dr. Afoke who is also now late and he referred us to UBTH where an operation was carried out in 2011, still there was no solution.

“Again we started moving from one church to another for prayers in Mosogar, but no solution came my way. We started shuttling between hospitals and churches.

“Some other hospitals and health programmes  we attended included the Free Medical Treatment Programme at Okparavero in 2013, Seplat Eye Can See Program at Okpe Hall, Sapele, in 2014 and some others in Warri. In all these, we were spending every kobo with my husband. He spent N9, 000 on one of the days we went to a hospital in   Warri,” she asserted

Mrs. Ogume noted: “When no solution was in sight, we went back to UBTH where I was admitted at the Head department. The doctors said the swell was pushing out the eye (left eye) and that the push was affecting my right eye. So they (doctors) advised that an operation should be done on the affected eye or I would lose both sights.

“After the operation, my left hand, left leg and my tongue were affected and I could no longer speak well. I still find it difficult to remember things. The affected eye is now completely pushed out and an operation on it is expected to be done, this time at the Delta State University Teaching Hospital, DELSUTH, where the doctors say it will cost about N1.5m.

“The doctors at UBTH have equally accepted to do the operation, though they have not told us what they would charge but we believe they would charge about the same amount of money. Sympathizers have asked us to see Governor  Ifeanyi Okowa and we are yet to have access to him.”

The couple revealed that the problem cropped up three days to their marriage, March 25, 2006 and their last son, Prosper, who was left behind as they were moving from one hospital and church to the other since doctor would not allow babies in the wards, suffered a convulsion attack, which affected his limb, brain and speech.