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Nollywood actress and art curator, Chidera Adiele, has appealed for help over her younger brother’s prolonged battle with drug addiction and mental illness.
In a video shared on her Instagram page on Tuesday, Adiele revealed that her brother has been struggling with the condition for the past seven years.
She explained that his ordeal began after he secured admission into the University of Lagos in 2019 and deteriorated during his first academic session in 2020.
She said her brother had been in and out of at least seven psychiatric facilities over the years, including New York Psychiatric Hospital in Abeokuta, the Federal Neuro-Psychiatric Hospital, Yaba, a private facility identified as Concept One, another in Gbagada, a hospital in Benin, and most recently, the 68 Nigerian Army Reference Hospital, also in Yaba.
“He was in the psychiatric ward for three months and they recently asked me to come pick him up because they said they couldn’t keep him there indefinitely. The max they can keep a patient there is three months,” she said.
According to her, her brother was discharged a week before the video was recorded and was subsequently taken to a ministry she identified as Zion Ministry, in a bid to explore spiritual intervention. She said his condition deteriorated further after he returned from the ministry the previous night.
Adiele said she relocated from the family house about five years ago to protect her daughter after realising her brother’s condition was affecting the child, but that the family has now returned to live with her after their landlord issued them a quit notice.
“They’ve brought this drama back to me and worse is I have been his primary caregiver since all of this started. I’ve been the one taking him to all these hospitals,” she said.
She described herself as her brother’s primary caregiver and the first child of the family, saying she had spent extensively on his treatment without lasting improvement.
“I’m the first child. I’m tired. I’m so tired of carrying responsibilities that I had no business carrying,” she said.
The actress also accused her parents of failing to take responsibility for her brother’s care, saying she intended to speak further about her family’s circumstances.
“I’m done being the sacrificial lamb. I’m done being the one who has to take care of everybody and nobody cares about me,” she said.
Adiele said her brother had, on occasion, been sighted wandering the streets of Lagos unclothed, with members of the public alerting her whenever he was spotted.
She said her daughter’s safety remained her priority, adding that she had been unable to secure alternative accommodation for her brother due to the cost of rent in Lagos.
“My daughter sleeps in fear because they are still in my house at the moment. I’ve tried to help them get another apartment but apartments, houses are really crazy expensive,” she said.
The actress ended the video with a direct appeal for assistance, saying she had exhausted every option available to her.
“I’ve done what I can do. I’ve carried him everywhere that I can carry him to… I’m tired. Please, I’m drowning. I need help,” she said.
