By Chrysanthus Ikeh
No, this isn’t from a movie! The Catholic Women Organisation (CWO) of St. Anthony Parish, Nguru, in Nsukka Local Government Area of Enugu State, recently staged a protest against the sale and consumption of local gin, popularly known as Ogogoro or kaikai, in their community.
They alleged that the substance has rendered their men useless and causes them to ignore their responsibility.
According to the women, their husbands no longer warm their beds at night.
‘After drinking kaikai, they would come home and lie down like logs of wood. They would snore till the next day. They can no longer have sex with their wives because their organs are almost dead. How do we procreate under that situation? That is why we are crying out to the world,’ the women said through their spokesperson as they carried fresh green leaves around the community.
The leader of the women group, Theodora Eze, told Sunnewsonline that: ‘In Nguru community, kaikai has snatched our men and youths from us. Early in the morning every day, the young boys, instead of looking for what to do, will sit comfortably and drink themselves to stupor at kaikai joints, which are scattered everywhere in this community. After drinking, the person will become useless throughout the day. Those who are married among them cannot even feed themselves, not to talk of their wives and children. Our women have suddenly become the breadwinners simply because of kaikai. Our suffering is overweighing us; the burden of solely catering for our families’ needs is becoming too much on us. That is why we are crying to high heavens against this scourge.’
The women also passed a directive on Tuesday, April 1, 2014, that anybody found selling or drinking the substance within Nguru community would be liable to a fine of N20, 000. They had the support of the Nsukka Police Area Commander, the Nsukka Divisional Police Officer (DPO), the Umuada organisation, the youth association, as well as the Parish Priest of St Anthony Catholic Church, Nguru.
The women, who were dressed in Catholic Christian Mothers’ uniform, moved from hamlet to hamlet, chanting a dirge for kaikai and its sellers. Whenever they reached a shop suspected to be selling the substance, they would drop fresh green leaves and chant before proceeding to the next shop.
