An 80‑year‑old Nigerian widower, two years after his wife's death, turned to his neighbourhood [Mosque](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mosque) for companionship and instead fell victim to a woman who pretended to need assistance, ultimately draining his savings.
His wife passed away two years ago following a prolonged illness that exhausted the entire household. The narrator explains that caring for a chronically ill partner often leaves the caregiver feeling even more unwell. He acknowledges that his children also shared the burden, acting as his wife's hands, legs and nurses, while he set aside his own masculinity to accept the situation as fate.
When she died, the home fell into an unsettling silence, a stark contrast to the lively visits from neighbours, mosque members, alfas, children she mentored and women she advised. He likens his wife to a large tree whose shade vanished when it fell, leaving visitors to drift away like leaves.
Alone and grieving, he refused his children's pleas to stay with them, insisting on solitude despite the gnawing loneliness that soon revealed its own bite. He did not fear ghosts; he imagined that even if his late wife returned as a spirit, she would merely scold him for misplaced glasses, a phone, or money.
At the age of 80, needing help with daily chores, his children arranged for a caretaker. It was through the mosque that he met a woman he describes as an “eleha” – a fully covered, soft‑spoken individual whose eyes stayed lowered. He cautions that he is not condemning all women who wear hijab or burqa, but this particular person used the covering to conceal malicious intent.
She was 45 when they met and claimed her husband had abandoned her, leaving three children behind. The widower, who has 11 grandchildren and suffers from [benign prostatic hyperplasia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benign_prostatic_hyperplasia), was not seeking romance. He only wanted companionship – someone to converse with, sit beside him and keep him warm during evenings.
He states clearly, “I will help you financially, but I cannot father your children. They cannot live with me.” She appeared to accept, or at least pretended to. Their discreet meetings continued without introducing her to his children, who likely sensed something was amiss.
The narrator compares her deception to that of the infamous robber Shina Rambo, noting, “She stole more than him, without a gun or a knife.” He recounts how she would take money he left on the fridge, then claim he had taken it himself, and how she turned him into an “ATM machine.”
Realising the exploitation, he decided to end the arrangement, declaring, “I will not allow madness into my home just because I am lonely.” He resolved to keep his remaining resources and protect himself from further deceit.
The story, originally published in thisislagos.ng, reflects a broader warning about the vulnerabilities that can accompany grief and old age, especially when seeking solace in unfamiliar relationships.