A week before Christmas,
in their one-room apartment in Awori, Majidun area of Ikorodu, Lagos
state, they had planned where they would visit. On the D-day, an unkind
fate dashed their hope and shattered their excitement leaving them
rather, with sad memories.
Crime Guard gathered
that as early as 7am that fateful day, the eldest son, Chidera Odoh, 17,
joined his mother, Christiana in hawking rice and pepper soup after
leaving some at home for the family to eat.
They planned to use the
proceeds for Christmas celebration. Vanguard gathered that on arrival, a
heated argument ensued between Christiana and her husband, Romanus
which snowballed into a big fight. Christiana was said to have stabbed
her husband with a kitchen knife in the stomach.
The 55-year-old Romanus reportedly died moment before reaching hospital.
Conflicting cause of fight
There were however
conflicting reports on the cause of the scuffle between the couple. A
version said it was caused by the refusal of the deceased to provide
money for his family to cook for the Christmas. But the bereaved
children described the version as false, saying that the heated
argument which degenerated into a fight between their parents,
occurred after their father accused their mother of infidelity.
When Crime Guard visited
the children in Ikorodu, they looked a shadow of themselves. As at 12
noon Thursday, some of them were yet to take their break fast . After a
long wait for an approval from a relative, the eldest son, Chidera,
explained how life was snuffed out of their father. He said: “ My mother
did not intentionally kill my father. She never meant to stab him, it
was all a mistake”.
At this point, he
paused when his siblings began to cry. Continuing, Chidera said:
“When my mother and I returned from the market where we went to sell
rice and pepper soup on Christmas day, she went straight to bed, saying
she was tired. Later, daddy came back home drunk and also went to bed.
The next thing we heard was mum telling dad to leave her alone.
He started accusing her again of visiting some of her boyfriends. Dad
was fond of accusing my mother of having an affair with any man that
came to buy rice and pepper soup from her.
“They started
quarrelling and dad stood up from the bed and broke a bottle which he
threatened to stab my mother with. I held my father , begging him not to
carry out his threat. One of our neighbours, uncle Kola who came in,
collected the broken bottle from my father. “But daddy rushed out
and came back with a kitchen knife which he threatened to stab my
mother with. My mother moved closer to him to collect the knife. But
in the process of struggling with him, it pierced into my father’s
stomach. When my mother noticed what happened, she called out for
help.
I was among those who rushed my father to the hospital, where he was confirmed dead on arrival”, he said in tears.
Crime Guard gathered
that when news of the death of the Ebonyi state father of eight filtered
in , occupants of the building held Christiana until the arrival of
policemen from Ajegunle division. They whisked her away. The suspect’s
younger sister, Mercy Eze, also told Crime Guard that aside
accusing her sister of infidelity, the deceased was also fond of
beating her sister. She revealed that her sister had been
responsible for the family’s upkeep for a long time, alleging that
the deceased usually left home for a week without deeming it fit to
drop money for the children’s feeding. She lamented that rather than get
a pat at the back, her sister’s late husband would beat her and
accuse her of cheating on him.
According to Eze,” My
sister has lost some of her teeth due to constant battering. Any time
her husband came back drunk, he would pounce on her . This accusation
had been on for long but my sister would always say that she was only
holding on because of her children.”
But some members of the
bereaved family did not buy the explanation as they insisted that
Christiana allegedly stabbed their brother to death because of his
inability to provide money for Christmas food. One of them who gave his
name simply as Andrew said that the family would soon come up with its
position on the matter. “For now, I can not speak on behalf of my
family because I have not been authorised to do so.
What we heard was that
she had been threatening to kill our brother and now she has carried out
her threat. We leave the police to do their work”, he said.
Appeal to Police, government
Meanwhile, the children
have appealed to the Police to carry out discreet investigation with
a view to ascertaining how their father died. They also called on the
Lagos State government to come to their aid. Chidera said “As it is, we
are like orphans. Our father is no more and our mother who used to cater
for our feeding and other responsibilities is being detained by the
police.
Since the incident
happened, we have been feeding from hand to mouth. Neighbours and
relatives have been coming to check on us. But how long will this go ?.
Christiana , has been transferred to the State Criminal Investigation
and Intelligence Department , SCIID, Yaba for further investigation ,
from where she would be charged to court.
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