Geoffrey Anyanwu, Awka; Jeff Amechi Agbodo, Onitsha
Barely one week after a man killed his four children, sister-in-law and himself at Awada, Onitsha, Anambra State, tragedy again struck at the weekend in Ezimuko Nsukwu village, Abatete, in Idemili North Local Government Area of the state as a 27-year-old man, Ifeanyi Oguejiofor, stabbed his father, Osita Oguejiofor, to death for refusing to buy a new motorcycle for him.
Ifeanyi, who is a commercial motorcycle rider, also stabbed his mother, Mrs. Josephine Oguejiofor, several times with the same kitchen knife after killing his father, but she survived and was rushed to the hospital. The attack on his father, who was a trailer driver, and his mother, said to be a spiritualist (Ezenwanyi), took place at 8am last Saturday.
It was also gathered that Ifeanyi, after stabbing his father to death, stabbed his mother and, thinking that she was dead, he stabbed himself in a bid to commit suicide but his mother raised the alarm that attracted neighbours, who saved mother and son.
A source said that the trouble started when the young man approached his father and demanded for money for the procurement of a new motorcycle, since the one he was using had become unserviceable.
In response, his father had told him that he had no money to buy a new motorcycle but that he would buy a new engine to replace the one he had. It was gathered that the father’s response did not go down well with Ifeanyi, so he went straight to the kitchen, grabbed a knife and pounced on his father. He allegedly stabbed the old man repeatedly in the neck and shoulder until he slumped and died.
According to a source, “His mother was screaming for help when she saw Ifeanyi with a knife but he did not hesitate to stab her in her shoulder and, as she fell on the ground, he thought she was also dead. And in a bid to escape the wrath of the law, he tried to commit suicide by stabbing himself severally in the chest before he was held by the security men.”
Divisional police officer, Ogidi, Mr. Mark Ijarafu, who confirmed the incident, said that the remains of Ifeanyi’s father have been deposited at Iyi-Enu Mission Hospital morgue in Ogidi, while the mother was treated in an undisclosed hospital. He said that the culprit has been arrested and investigation on the matter continues.
Ifeanyi, who confessed to the crime, said: “What I did was what my spirit asked me to do.”
What is becoming of Anambra state and its people this days? It is always one evil after another and in quick successions. We where still berthing from the Miss Anambra porn saga that went viral, then the Evans saga, then came the shooting spree inside our church, still mourning our loss, then came the murder of an entire family over rivalry through food poisoning, yet to fully grieve this, and we have another case of a married woman having hatched and consummated kidnap and the killing of her husband of many years, then came unbiblical tying of the knot between a blood brother and his sister in a church and then the gory incident in Onitsha (although this time a native of Imo or Abia state), only to be reading yet another grim story this morning. What is wrong with Anambra state? Can someone please explain? Have we offended the gods so badly or have we dined with them so intimately that they feel disrespected? Is it right to say we have forsaken the Almighty God for the good we have experienced as a state over the years. I think the Anambra people should return to the Almighty in penitence for the wind blowing over that state at the moment is evil. God save our people and state.