The last surviving female twin to be rescued by Mary Slessor, a Scottish Missionary in the Arochukwu Ancient Kingdom of Abia, over a century ago, Madam Malinda Mgbafor Okereke, otherwise called Mama Nsu Bekee, is dead.
A statement issued on behalf of the family by the only surviving son of the deceased, Bishop Okechukwu Okereke, and made available to newsmen in Umuahia on Thursday, disclosed that she died at the age of 115.
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According to the statement, the centenarian and her twin sister, Mgbokwo, were born during the harmful traditional practice of the killing of twins in the community.
This happened around the year 1800, when the bearing of twins was considered taboo in Arochukwu and other communities of the Lower Cross River region.
Such newborns were killed and cast into the evil forest shortly before Slessor’s arrival in the area for missionary work.
It was reported that Slessor enforced a ban on twin murder in the area in 1876.
“The birth of Mgbafor and her twin sister, Mgbokwo, who passed on almost two decades ago, was not only attended to by Slessor and her team at their maternity at Obinagu, Amasu Village, Arochukwu, but the twins were subsequently adopted and fostered by Slessor herself,” the statement added.
It further stated that the deceased and her twin sister received formal education at Mary Slessor Primary School, Arochukwu (now Mary Slessor Secondary Technical School), under the direct care of the Scots.
“This resulted in the twins’ sound command of the English Language, hence the nickname of Madam Mgbafor, ‘Mama Nsu Bekee’ (Mama that speaks English).
“She was strong, always neatly dressed, and full of joy until her last moments before her demise on March 5, following a brief illness,” Okereke stated.
He further disclosed that she would be laid to rest on Saturday, August 30, in her family compound at Amasu, Arochukwu, after a funeral service at the Presbyterian Church of Nigeria.
The statement added that the deceased had three children, a daughter and two boys, but was survived by a son, grandchildren, great-grandchildren, and many relatives.
NAN