The Second Wife Is Unravelling. Quietly.

There is a particular kind of distress that does not announce itself. It does not slam doors or raise its voice. It shows up in smaller ways, a headscarf tied too tightly, eyes that move to the gate every few minutes, hands that cannot seem to find anything useful to do.

That is Iya Tope. Baba Segi’s second wife has not made a statement. She has not spoken to the press. She has, by most accounts, barely spoken to anyone. But those who have observed her closely over the past four days describe a woman who is quietly coming apart at the seams.

“She keeps going to the window,” one source told this reporter. “Just standing there. Looking out. Then she comes back and sits down. Then she goes again.”

When this reporter managed to make brief contact with Iya Tope near the east side of the compound, away from the watchful eye of the first wife, she did not say much. She looked, for a moment, as though she might. Her mouth opened. Then she glanced toward the main house, closed it, and excused herself. Whatever Iya Tope knows or suspects, she has decided, or has been persuaded to keep it to herself.

It is worth pausing here to consider what Baba Segi’s absence means specifically for a woman in Iya Tope’s position. She came to this compound as a second wife. She has no family wealth of her own. Her children, her home, her standing in this community, all of it is tied to one man and the roof he provides.

If he does not return, the question is not simply where is Baba Segi. The question is, what happens to Iya Tope?

— The CEN Report
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