Follow Us on Google
• Says “spirit” teaches him how to repair phones
From Magnus Eze, Enugu
Anthony Igwe, a 39-year-old cripple from Nkerefi, Nkanu East Local Government Area of Enugu State has defied all odds to stay alive. A good case of ability in disability, the young man who abandoned begging nine years ago, is poised to surmount life’s many challenges.
Igwe was born in 1984, healthy and strong. He had even started walking when tragedy struck. One morning, his mother after bathing him noticed that he could no longer walk as he used to. Life had gone out of his limbs. Despite all efforts to find a solution, Igwe and his parents had to resign to fate as he turned a cripple for life.
Notwithstanding, he eventually acquired the skill of repairing phones and accessories, a vocation he manages to cater for his household.
According to him, this fateful incident marked the beginning of his suffering. “My father disowned my mother because of that incident. I was taken to my grandmother’s place after my mother was chased away by my father. When the old woman died, it was me all by myself. My father didn’t know how I survived. It was villagers that continued helping me to feed.
“I couldn’t go to school because my father didn’t see any need for me to go to school because I am a cripple. It was later before he died that he regretted. He said that if he had known that I would turn out like this, he would have taken good care of me,” he narrated.
Igwe said he had no plans of leaving Nkerefi. But one fateful day, he claimed that a spirit repeatedly appeared to him in dreams and instructed him to move to Enugu. He later journeyed to Enugu in 1991and was introduced to begging by someone who wanted to help him.
He said: “It was tough because begging was not known around here then. Someone offered to push me around in a wheelbarrow. It was tough because I didn’t have a place to sleep at night. I had to pass the nights in makeshift stalls in markets. I managed until I was able to find a place where I lived. Yes, I made a little money from begging.”
Igwe eventually stopped begging in 1999 and survived on people’s benevolence for many years before a friend opened a phone call centre for him.
“I later had a dream and the spirit of God came and told me that I could repair phones. When I was telling my relatives about the dream, they laughed at me. They imagined how someone in my condition could repair phones. But the dream continued,” he said.
He narrated how the “spirit” appeared to him many times insatructing him to start repairing phones. “He told me that if I refused to heed his instruction, that I will suffer terribly. I then called my brother and asked him to take N1000 to Ogbete and buy me anything that could be used to repair phones.
“When he returned, I came out to the very place where I am now. One day, someone was passing by and asked if I could repair phones. He said that his phone was having issues. When he gave me the phone, before God and man, I did not have an inkling as to what to do with the phone. As I was opening the phone with one hand, the spirit came again and told me that since I don’t have methylated spirit, I should use kerosene and clean the phone.
“The spirit said that I should then couple it and give it back to the man. I asked my brother to go and get me kerosene. The spirit also told me to use a toothbrush and clean the phone. When I did these, I coupled the phone, turned it on and the phone started working. I told the man to pay me N350 and he paid N300. I prayed with that money. I called my brother and instructed him to immediately take the money to church and put it into the offering box.”
Igwe who stated that the said voice would always direct him on what to do whenever someone brought phone to him for repair, added: “My brother also took me to Ogbete, so, I could see the equipment used to repair phones. I was able to buy the equipment I needed through the help of public-spirited individuals.”
He said that since then, he has been in the business of repairing phones for clients with almost 100 percent success rate.
Having made some money as a phone repairer, Igwe said he went home for Christmas in his newly acquired wheelchairs. He said he was celebrated by many people during the Yuletide.
It was in the village during a football match that he initially met his wife, he recalled.
“When I saw her, the spirit told me she was my wife. I kept looking in her direction but I didn’t have the means to meet her. I watched her move from the field to a classroom. I thought I would never see her again. The next day, I saw her. I told my brother that I wanted to marry her. He laughed at me initially but encouraged me to approach her.
“I approached her and asked her if she knew me, she said yes. She directed me to a church where she was living with her mother. The following day, I went to the village and met the girl. I told her that I wanted to marry her. She thought about it and said that if it was the will of God, we would get married.
I met her mother and told her I came to marry her daughter. She asked me for her response. I told her she had accepted. She said that she had no problem with it. I also met her extended family and they all accepted. That same period, I did the traditional rites of introduction and paid her bride price.”
Igwe said he wedded his wife on July 30, 2016 and the marriage is blessed with seven children -four girls and three boys.
He stated that things were going well for his family until sometime in 2018 when armed robbers invaded his home three times in quick succession. The first time, he recalled, they stole several phones belonging to his customers. While he was still battling with settling the phone owners, the thieves struck again two weeks later and carted away more phones. They also stole his wedding suite and all the money he had made.
“The thieves came a third time and stole all the money people had given me because of the earlier incident. They also violently raped my wife in my presence. All these in a space of three weeks,” he lamented.
He thanked God that no member of his household was killed in the attacks, adding that he reported the matter to the police. He said that a crew from the Nigerian Television Authority (NTA) visited him and reported the story. The station also helped to solicit help for him.
Igwe then pleaded with the government to come to his aid: “I want the government to help me train my children. If there is also a better place where I can live, I would appreciate it. You can see where we are living. If I can also get help in my work, I will also appreciate it. I also desire to go to school. I have it in mind but I don’t have the means.”
One of his customers, Christian Nwoye from Ebonyi State said that Igwe has been of great help to the entire neighbourhood with his phone repairing skills.
“I work with St Christopher Security. Someone directed me to him. Since then, he’s been the one repairing phones for my entire family. The thing is that once he repairs your phone, it will hardly develop that same fault again.
“I am amazed that it is someone like this that was able to fix a phone that they couldn’t fix at a popular plaza in Anambra State. Now, I am a proud owner of three phones, all repaired by him. I am begging God to bring him a helper because he has been helping people here. His charges are always low, so, he’s been of immense help to us,” he said.
Also, Amechi Onukwube, a legal practitioner and rights activist who has helped Igwe in difficult times spoke of his encounter with him.
“Igwe is my friend. I live close to him. I took interest in him. The friendship grew stronger when I saw him being pushed by one of his sons. The next day, I asked him where he was going and he told me that some armed robbers came to his house, stole all the money he had and raped his wife. He reported to the police and instead of the policeman coming here to interview him, he asked him to come to Uwani Police Station. I was not happy.
“Since then, we have become friends and the matter is still under investigation. Nothing has come out of it. During his wedding, he invited me, I was there. What made me happy was that after nine years of begging, he left the streets. He was able to start repairing phones. He was able to marry. Nobody taught him how to repair phones but as you can see, so many people are coming with their phones and nobody has come to say that the phone he repaired for him is not working.
“I am only begging the government, church organisations and public-spirited individuals to help him. I am begging the Governor of Enugu State, Peter Mbah and all the governors in Nigeria to help him. He wrote a book and that book needs to be launched. He has decided to leave begging. He is no longer begging,” he pleaded.
