An Ibadan, Oyo State-based popular cleric and the founder of Agbala Gabriel Ministry, Pastor Ademola Amusan, has come to the aid of an elderly widow, Mrs Oriyomi, who was discovered to be living in a cage at Egbeda area of Ibadan, Oyo State capital.
According to a live video on the cleric’s Facebook page, Agbala Gabriel Global, on Saturday afternoon, which was monitored by LEADERSHIP, the woman whose husband reportedly died some months back was found living under the makeshift cage, together with her middle-age visually impaired daughter, and her 30-year-old sister.
Pastor Amusan said his attention was drawn to the plight of the widow by an elderly female member of his church, who went out to evangelise in the area but was shocked to discover the widow in such a despicable condition.
“We were very busy in the church, but I can’t hear such a report and not come over,” the cleric-philanthropist said in the video while also calling on passers-by to verify the authenticity of the widow’s claims.
Asked how long she had been living in the bed bug-invested cage, the widow, who said she was brought to the area by her late husband, who was working as a guard at a telecom mast base, said she had been sleeping in the wooden cage for about six years.
She said her late husband, who hailed from Okitipupa in Ondo State, brought her to the area where they were living under a destroyed wooden structure before his death.
Neighbours and passersby confirmed to the cleric that Mama Oriyomi, whom they described as a peace-loving woman, was living at the place with her two adult daughters. She told Pastor Amusan, popularly known as Agbala Gabriel, that she gave birth to seven children out of which two died.
Among the remaining five children was the visually impaired and a diminutive 30-year-old Damilola Oriyomi, who was said to have been once married but returned to her mother for being maltreated by her estranged husband.
When Amusan asked how they were feeding with their condition, Madam Oriyomi said she was selling herbs fetched from leaves, tree barks and roots, and as well begging to survive. “I have made N500 today,” she told Pastor Amusan.
Moved by her the woman’s condition, Agbala Gabriel declared that the poor widow would not sleep in the tent from that moment, pledging to rent her a house under 24 hours where she would henceforth live together with her two daughters.
“I want to be selling cold drinks and water as well as items that children can buy,” she further told the pastor when asked what she would like to be doing after getting her an apartment while her visually impaired daughter expressed willingness to go into hair-dressing.
Amusan also promised to get her a shop, a freezer and a generator for her cold water and soft drinks business while pledging to also buy other needed items for the widow to start a completely new life from that moment.
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