Once Upon A Village: Episode 5

Lillian turns away Sammy when her estranged husband appears at her door begging for another chance, because she is leaving an abusive marriage. She asks the community chairman, Jeffrey, to let her work in the records office without pay. Jeffrey is suspicious and imposes a six-month condition. When Hilda, Jeffrey's wife, hears that Lillian visited his office, she assumes Lillian is trying to steal her husband. A youth team is organized to survey villages, and the young woman Eno joins. Eno learns that her seriously ill father has woken, but her aunt refuses to let her see him unless she marries a chief or loses his property. Mina, Jeffrey and Hilda's son, is on the team, and the jealous Ozi watches him constantly. While the team carries out household visits, Hilda privately confronts Lillian and then turns to Sammy, who owes his entire life to Hilda's family, and orders him to handle Lillian. Hilda also wants the hundred million naira meant for community projects, so she sends Sammy's men to collect it from the community center. The money is not there, so the armed men grab the young people present, including Mina and Eno, and drive away in a van. The kidnapping throws the community into panic. Hilda runs to Sammy, slaps him, and accuses him of abducting her own son. Sammy admits his men had wrong information and begs for forgiveness, but Hilda threatens him instead. In the forest where Mina and Eno are kept, the guards step away, and the two flee. Eno cannot keep walking, so Mina carries her through the dark wilderness. They stop for the night in a clearing, comfort each other, and agree to keep traveling when dawn comes. Back home, Hilda and Jeffrey argue, a crowd shouts for answers outside the chairman's compound, and Lota and other friends try to keep morale up. The ordeal appears to draw the young pair closer. The quiet final image shows a man holding a tearful woman.