Mrs. Elizabeth Oke, mother of Ikechukwu Oke—a 19-year-old boy from Ebonyi State—has shared the heartbreaking reason behind her son’s extreme 41-day fast. In an emotional interview, she revealed that her son collapsed after spending over a month on a prayer mountain in Abakaliki without food or water.
Ikechukwu left home on July 23, 2019, without informing either her or his older brother, Obinna, who he lives with in Ishieke village. She later discovered that he had gone to the mountain to fast and pray due to the family’s dire financial situation.
“My son is very religious. He sings in the church choir and often preaches to other youths. He strongly believes that God can solve any problem through prayer,” she said.
Mrs. Oke made it clear that she never forced him to fast. But she acknowledged that their ongoing struggles as a family could have influenced his decision. The death of her husband in 1996 left the family in deep poverty, and surviving has been a daily battle.
“I work as a labourer and earn N1,400 a day. That’s what I use to feed my children. One day, I nearly lost a hand doing that job,” she added.
Ikechukwu, currently an SS1 student at Ishieke Community Secondary School, dreams of becoming a lawyer. He normally spends school holidays selling sachet water and Gala in Onitsha to raise money for his education. But according to his mother, after his last return from Onitsha, he seemed unusually burdened.
He told her he wanted to visit his brother and promised to come back to help with the cassava harvest. But instead of returning, he went straight to the mountain for a 41-day fast.
“If we had known he planned to fast that long, we would never have allowed it,” she said. “He used to fast, but never this long. This nearly killed him.”
Mrs. Oke explained that Ikechukwu is quiet and introverted. He rarely shares his problems and tends to carry burdens alone. She suspects his despair over their poor condition pushed him into the dangerous fast.
“He said he fasted because of our family’s condition. He always talks about how we are not making progress. He wanted to change that through prayer,” she said.
Despite the family’s struggles, she remains hopeful and prays for a better future for her children.
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