•Eunice Anthony Photo: Sun News Publishing

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Although she is a physically challenged person, Miss Eunice Anthony had every reason to count herself lucky. A good job as a records clerk at the classy Loyola Jesuit College, arguably Abuja’s elite secondary school is not something that comes easy.

But since the lady decided to take her lingering office romance with a work colleague to the next level by becoming pregnant out of wed-luck, her world has been standing on its head. Now her employers want her to quit her job for what is considered a moral turpitude on her path.

Eunice’s case is a bad one. She loves her job, and cherishes the relationship between with Mr. Stephen Ojehomon, which had resulted in the birth of the baby now in its sixth month. The authorities of the school are not in anyway averse to any of these, and would gladly want to retain the distressed lady in their employ. But the snag is that the school is insisting that the relationship between Ojehomon and Eunice be solemnised. And Ojehomon has sworn never to marry a cripple in deference to her mother’s wish, and Loyola is insisting that both of them should marry or quit their employment before they are booted out. That, however, is their dilemma!

Pregnant, dumped
Sunday Sun learnt that Stephen and Eunice have been dating for more than nine years. Sometime last year, the lady got pregnant for her boy-friend. Initially there was no cause to worry as Stephen assured her that he would stand by. Then the authorities of the school asked them to formalize their relationship through marriage. It was then that Stephen told her that his mother had sworn that she could never be his wife on account of her physical challenge.
“He told me that his mum said over her dead body would he marry me, so I should terminate the pregnancy. I told him but your mum was aware of our relation from day one, so why would she disapprove of it now? He worked out on me and never talked to me until when I had my baby,” Eunice said.

However, Loyola Jesuit College has written to both employees, giving them up to November 8, 2008 to get married and retain their jobs or resign by December 31. Following the refusal of the man to marry the mother of his baby, the November deadline could not be met, and now both have turned in their notices of resignation._Eunice is afraid of the bleak future that awaits her and the little baby when the job is eventually taken away from her at the end of the year. According to her, she has abandoned to her fate since the arrival of the baby with little or no support for the baby’s upkeep from her man. The looming loss of job, she said, would inevitably mean hunger, starvation and homelessness for her and her baby since both live in one of the school’s hostels. _Now, she is at a crossroad. Her worst fear is how she and the baby would survive.

“With my condition, life has been particularly difficult. I feel like killing the baby and myself! What do I do now? How would I look after my baby in this condition without a job? I don’t want to beg for alms. Why is life so unfair?” the sobbing 34-year old woman asked, definitely not expecting an answer as she narrated her ordeal to Sunday Sun reporter.

Justifying the position of the school on the matter, Mr. Orji Andrew Nwokocha, Vice-Principal, Students Life, at Loyola Jesuit College said the school was soft on both Eunice and Stephen, otherwise the proper thing would have been to terminate their appointments immediately the issue came to light. “This is a faith-based Catholic institution following the doctrine of the Catholic Church, which forbids two unmarried people having sex,” Nwokocha said. _Noting that the school had shown considerable understanding to the couple, Nwokocha disclosed that they were counselled to regularize their marriage, adding that “they would have continued to work here if they simply did that. The girl wanted the marriage regularized, but the boy (Stephen) refused.”

Since this is the first time the school was having this kind of problem, the vice-principal said a committee was set up to recommend how to handle the matter._“The committee advised immediate termination of employment with the school. But even after the policy, the school did not want to terminate their appointments like that. The President/Principal of the School, Rev. Fr. John-Okoria Ibhakewanlan, in taking a decision, tempered justice with mercy. Instead of terminating their appointments, they were asked to resign so that they can be given their benefits, as each of them has served for about 13 years,” he said.

Besides, Nwokocha explained, the school is intent on helping the girl further by compelling Stephen to support her and the baby so that when they are eventually disengaged, there would have been adequate arrangement for the baby. The school plans to deduct a substantial amount from Stephen’s gratuity, to be kept in trust for the baby. “The school pities the woman but policy is policy. We are doing this to prevent the occurrence of such in the future. We want it to serve as deterrent to other staff,” he said.

Knocks for College
Right now, from left, right and centre, it’s been knocks for Loyola Jesuit College over its handling of the case, including the Catholic Church. The Centre for Justice and Peace Development at the Catholic Archdiocese of Abuja argues that the school should have explored some other means to deal with the matter instead of asking the affected people to resign. Jacqueline Asuku, who spoke on behalf of the center, acknowledged that the issue was a ser ious one, given the doctrine of the church.
“But let me stress that the circumstance of the lady has to come to bear on the decision. Mercy must come to play first. The lady does not necessarily have to lose her job. In as much as we try to emphasize and underline the consequences of such action, we cannot turn our eyes away from other consequences that may arise if she has to leave her job,” Asuku reasoned.

Mr. Bede Eziefule of the Centre for Right to Health (CRH) also disagreed with the position of the school. “My big dilemma is that since the baby is out now, if Loyola Jesuit throws her out, what happens to the child? What happens to the crippled mother? My take is that the time has come when the church also needs to be dynamic. They should be dynamic in the sense that you cannot say that such a thing does not happen. The church supports the poor. Justice and Peace Development Commission supports the poor. I know that the Nigerian Catholic bishops encourage charity. I think this is the time the church would have to go all out to support the girl,” he argued.

Noting that it would be difficult for the girl to get another job if she is disengaged from Loyola, Eziefule said economic power would be taken away from her if she is out of job, and then both mother and child would suffer. He said further: “The girl in question is not even a Catholic nun. I think the school has nothing to lose. Is Loyola Jesuit saying that there are no Catholics, whether passive or active, who have had babies out of wed-luck? Are they not still within the fold? So, I don’t think it has any serious repercussion on the church. She has a whole lot of right. If she is being asked out of the school her right to work is being infringed on. I think very strongly that she can sue because she did not resign of her own will.”

At the National Human Rights Commission, Kayode Sebanjo who heads the Legal and Investigation department said if the girl was forced to go, it would amount to discrimination which is unconstitutional. He, however, noted that, “religion makes the whole case delicate, more so when it is strictly an employer/employee relationship. “We want to see the terms of their employment. Has she breached any of them? If it was not clearly stated in the terms, then it can give rise to a very successful action in court,” Sebanjo enthused.

Genesis of disability
Eunice came down with polio and meningitis and became partially paralyzed in the legs at age four. At 26 in 2000, her worst nightmare happened. A domestic accident had caused total paralysis on both legs. A fall from a chair had resulted in the dislocation of her pelvic region, making her unable to work again without of crutches. “Though I tried to put this behind me, it has been difficult,” the daughter of a retired soldier who hails from Kaduna State said. Her resolve to make the best of a bad situation saw her complete her secondary education. And it seemed that things had begun to look up for her when she secured the job as a pioneer staff of the Catholic school in 1995.

In the more than 13 years she has worked there, Eunice said she had never been queried. From the position of a cleaner in 1995, she has served as a cook before being transferred to her present post. “I have never had any issue with them. In fact, we have related very well until recently when this matter came up,” she said.

Though physically challenged, Eunice is a paragon of beauty. That, no doubt, explains why she was quickly attracted to Stephen the first day they met in the school. She recalls: “He started coming to my room in the hostel in 1998, but proposed to me in 1999. He said all kinds of things that my condition has nothing to do with; that he has genuine love for me; and that he was ready for marriage if I accepted. And truly he acted it. He seemed God-sent to me. He was always there for me. And we loved each other. Things went on like that for eight years until I took in last year. I told him I was feeling funny. He took me to where we had a test that confirmed I was pregnant. At first he was not cold about it. But things changed when he told his mum who is also a worker in the school. The pregnancy was already two months then,” Eunice said.

Labour was particularly excruciating for the woman, given her physical condition. Though she was penciled down for Caesarian, she had her baby by herself, a feat she described as miraculous. Stephen came to the hospital to see the baby. His mother visited Eunice and the baby after they had been discharged from the hospital, “but since then, I have been left alone,” she said. To survive the days ahead, mother and child will sure need a quantum of miracle.