The man, it was gathered, had on many occasions threatened to kill his father before he finally cut him down while he was preparing to attend an elders’ meeting in the community. According to eyewitnesses, Chinedu, a father of three, had perfected his evil plans, enquiring from his family members around when they would be going out for the day, apparently to enable him enough time to perpetrate the evil act.
After murdering his father, the suspect was said to have vowed to kill his mum and other members of the household. The desperate cries of neighbors, it was gathered, saved the others from being killed, as youths in the community rushed to the scene and prevented the young man from completing his mission.
An eyewitness who spoke to Daily Sun said Chinedu had on several occasions chased his father about with a sharp cutlass, threatening to cut short his life but had always been prevented by the youths around. His grouse, it was gathered, was that his father was the cause of his misfortune.
According to Mr Chukwuma Nwoye, a nephew to the deceased, the killer-son would have terminated his father’s life long ago if not for the timely intervention of the youths around. He disclosed that the suspect had threatened to kill him that morning if he had attempted to rescue the deceased. Nwoye said the deceased had no issues with his son before he was murdered.
Hear him: “The deceased was my uncle. They were all living in the northern part of Nigeria when the boy became a Muslim. He equally married a Muslim. But he had been acting funny in recent times. He was even sent to South Africa by his family to make his life better. He was asked to do whatever he could do to make his life better, but he joined a gang of smokers. Since he came back, he had been exhibiting funny traits. He often chased his father about with a sharp cutlass to kill him. He had done that not less than four times.
The last time he did that, we went and bought him this drug I have in my hand to see if that could get him back to his senses, because we thought; maybe he had some infections in the brain. In fact, he had even threatened to kill me if I drew near to prevent him from killing his father. He was wielding a very sharp machete. And one thing is that they were not having any issues or quarrel before.”
Another nephew to the deceased, Mr Chibuzo Chukwuemeka, said the suspect was a chronic Indian hemp smoker and had been behaving abnormally since he returned from Maiduguri where the family was living before. He said although the boy had no quarrel with his father, he had been behaving abnormally since he converted to Islam in Maiduguri, the Borno State capital.
Hear him: “I came back from Lagos and this morning I was already on my way to board a vehicle back to Lagos when I received an emergency call to return. On coming back, I was informed that my uncle had been slaughtered by his son. Before I got home, he had died. The boy ran upstairs and locked himself up in the room and refused to open it until the police arrived and forced the door open. They got him arrested and then they took him to the police station. The deceased was equally taken to the mortuary.
“The boy converted to Islam in Maiduguri in the North East. He equally married an Hausa woman in the north and they have three children. So when he came back home, his attitude had changed. He is the fourth son of his family. He smokes Indian hemp, and the villagers had told of how he used to chase everybody about with a sharp cutlass. And he had been threatening to kill his father. This is the fourth time he was chasing his father about with cutlass, and finally he had succeeded in killing him.”
None of his immediate family members could speak to this reporter as they were visibly in shock, even as the deceased’s wife was said to have been taken to her family house for safety as at the time of filing this report.
Chairman of Urum Central Vigilante, Mr Alexander Nwafor spoke with Daily Sun on the issue. He said: “This morning, the town crier had sent a message for a meeting at Igwe’s Palace and we were all headed to the place. Suddenly, we started hearing a loud cry from the deceased’s house. When we got to the house it was horrible. The scene is better seen than told. The young man butchered his father and we thank God the police came in time. If not, many people may have gone down as well.
“He behaves like someone who is insane because he smokes Indian hemp. He had been threatening to kill his father every day. He kept saying he would kill his father. The worst part of it is that barely two minutes after he had killed his father, he told his mother that it was her turn to be slaughtered as well. In fact, when we arrived, he was threatening to kill any of us that gets close to him”
But when contacted on the telephone, the Anambra State Police Public Relations Officer, Mr Uche Eze said he was yet to be briefed on the murder. “I am not aware of that. It has not been reported to me. I’m just coming out from the usual Monday morning briefing.”
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