mother threatened to kill me – Six-year-old boy stabbed by mom

Six-year-old Promise Eboye, should not be alive, at least
going by the four gory looking stab injuries on his back. The
boy survived an attack that would have killed even an adult
had the injuries been sustained in vital parts of the body.
Promise, a bright and sharp boy lives with his mother and
step-father in Kollington area of Ijaiye, Lagos, while his
biological father lives in Benin, Edo State.
At about 8am on Monday, Promise’s mother, Comfort,
stabbed her son four times, inflicting life-threatening injuries
on the boy’s body.
The broken bottle the woman used on her son tore into the
boy’s flesh inflicting one three-inch injury and another two-
inch injury on the boy’s back. Two other wounds looked
equally horrific but were not as long and deep as the other
two.
Neighbours said if Promise had not run away from his
mother, who held tight to his wrist and stabbed him as he
screamed, he would have been stabbed to death.
What manner of crime could such a young boy have
committed, people who witnessed the scene have asked.
On Wednesday, our correspondent visited the woman’s
house on Olawoyin Street. The story that Promise, his
neighbours and the hospital workers told could only be
described as incredible.
Promise, who seems to have a remarkable memory, told
Saturday PUNCH that his mother has a “N30 cane”, which
she uses to flog him, even when he had no idea what he had
done wrong. He said she would sometimes beat him till he
could not walk.
“My mother is wicked,” Promise said simply, quietly. As
shocking as that sounded, coming from a six-year-old, it
explained the kind of treatment the boy had been
experiencing in the hands of his mother.
Promise said he had been living with his father in Edo State
since he was one year old. But when he was five, his mother
came to take him from his father’s house.
The boy said, “I was sweeping the day she came. I did not
know her as my mother. My father then told me that she
was my mother and she had come to take me to Lagos.
“When we came to Lagos, I started to live with her and my
step-father. But she beat me all the time.”
Asked what happened on Monday to make his mother stab
him, Promise said he tripped and fell.
He said, “When I fell, my mother asked me what pushed me
and why I fell. She was angry and went to take her N30
cane. When she was beating me too much and I was
screaming, one of our neighbours came to hold her hand to
take the cane away from her. The woman said I should run
away because my mother would kill me the way she was
beating me.
“My mother said ‘I will kill you, I will kill you’. When she
could not find anything else to beat me with, she took a
broken bottle on the ground and started to stab me on the
back.”
Promise was rescued by alarmed residents, who took him to
a private hospital nearby.
But by the time the boy was taken to the hospital, Comfort
had planted another story in the boy’s head.
Pastor Charles Agboola, a pharmacist who founded the
hospital, said the two people who brought Promise in said
the boy fell down and landed on a broken bottle. When
Agboola’s wife, a nurse, asked the boy what actually
happened, Promise told her that he was watching two
people fight when he sustained the injury.
The nurse told our correspondent, “He told me that they
pushed him and he landed on the broken bottles but when I
informed my husband, he said immediately that the story
could not be true. I also noticed that the wounds were not
consistent with that story.
“It was shocking that the boy’s mother was not remorseful
in any way. It was when she dashed out of the door under
the pretence that she was going to look for money for the
boy’s treatment, that a crowd from their street, who were
coming to the hospital ,grabbed her and told the true story
of what happened.
“When we asked Promise why he lied, he said his mother
had told him what to say when asked how he sustained the
injury.”
Mr. Agboola told Saturday PUNCH that by the time the boy
was about to leave the clinic, he was crying.
“He said he did not want to go back home. We fed him, gave
him any kind of food he wanted because I could not leave
the boy to suffer even though nobody paid us any money for
his treatment. We even prayed for him. Anytime we brought
up the issue of who would take over his care when he was
released from our hospital, he became very sad,” the
pharmacist said.
Neighbours told our correspondent that Comfort sometimes
punished the boy by smashing his head against a wall
whenever he did something wrong.
Comfort was later handed over to the police at Ijaiye-Ojokoro
Division.
Comfort, who is nursing a toddler, said Promise stepped on
her baby, which was why she became angry.
When Promise’s biological father was later contacted, he
initially said he wanted nothing to do with the issue.
“I have other children – I have produced boys and girls.
Whatever she likes, she should do with her son. When she
likes, she would take the boy to a motor park and send him
to me through a driver,” the man said.
Later when he was told that his ex-wife was in police
custody, he said he would come to Lagos to pick the boy.
The Police Public Relations Officer, Mr. Kenneth Nwosu, said
Comfort would be arraigned as soon as possible.
He explained that Promise had been treated and discharged
from hospital. As of the time of filing this report, Promise
was being housed at the Lagos State social welfare home.
Later on Thursday, Comfort was arraigned at an Ojokoro
Magistrate Court, Lagos on charges of assault occasioning
harm and attempted murder.
Promise’s father also came to Lagos on Thursday to take
the boy. The father declined to speak on the issue when our
correspondent tried to ask him some questions. “I only
came to Lagos to pick the boy,” he said.

Mum beats and stabs her own son this morning in Lagos (photo)

A horrible woman attacked and inflicted unimaginable
injuries on her own son. She beat and stabbed him this
morning at their home at 11, Olawoyin street, Kollinton,
Alagbado. The boy was rescued by neighbours. The case
has been reported at Ebenezer police station around the
area. Will bring details later...

Spirit cut my neighbour’s throat, not me –Suspect

A 40-year-old woman, Helen Okeke, aka Mama Chinedu,
who was accused of slitting her neighbour’s throat with a
knife in the Ikota, Ajah area of Lagos State, has said she is
possessed by a spirit.
The Okigwe, Imo State indigene, said she never knew that
Rosemary died until when she was arrested by the police.
Okeke, who said she was unmarried and had a son out of
wedlock, asked the family of the deceased to forgive her, as
she was not in control of herself during the incident.
Our correspondent had reported on Monday that Okeke and
Rosemary were neighbours in the Ikota Housing Estate.
On Wednesday last week, Rosemary, who was reportedly
preparing for her wedding, returned home and observed that
the clothes she spread on her door had been soiled with
urine.
She was said to have suspected Okeke and reported to the
landlady who pacified her.
However, some minutes after meeting with the landlady,
neighbours were said to have been jolted by a sudden cry
for help.
Okeke was alleged to have slit Rosemary’s neck with a knife
during a brawl and was found with a blood-stained knife at
the scene of the crime.
Rosemary was said to have died on her way to the hospital.
The matter, which was reported at the Ajah Police Division,
Ajiwe, was later transferred to the State Department of
Criminal Investigation, Yaba.
During a chat with our correspondent on Monday, Okeke,
who works as a cleaner, said it was not the first time she
would have a quarrel with Rosemary.
She said, “I have been living in that house for more than two
years. The first time we fought, she shone her torch on me
and I queried why she did that. She then hit me with the
torch, and that was how we fought.
“The landlady, Alhaja, never gave me any quit notice as she
claimed. I was even the one preparing to leave the
apartment because it was too small for me.”
Okeke said the victim had challenged her to a fight on the
fateful day while she was in her room.
She said she never wanted to come out until “a spirit”
entered into her room and pushed her out.
She said, “On that day, she carried a bucket of water and
stood in front of my room saying I should come out if I
know I was woman enough.
“I had just returned from where I went to buy bread and was
inside my room. I did not want to come out.
“But a spirit just entered into my room and entered me. I
was shaking uncontrollably and that was when I went out.
“I took a bucket of water and poured it on the floor in front
of my room. But Rosemary poured her bucket of water on
me, and that was when the fight started.”
She said in the ensuing scuffle, she found a knife in front of
her room.
“I cannot explain what happened next. I have never had this
kind of experience in my life. It was while I was at the police
station that they said she was dead.
“I need forgiveness from Rosemary and her family. I want
people to learn from my example that fighting is not good,”
she said.

Motorcyclist stabs security man to death at checkpoint

A motorcycle rider, Shehu Sanni, has allegedly stabbed a
security man, Ibukun Oguntona, to death in the Okobaba,
Oyingbo area of Lagos.
PUNCH Metro learnt that Sanni, who has been arrested by
the police, allegedly killed the security man when he (Sanni)
was stopped at a checkpoint, and queried over his
movement.
Our correspondent learnt that on Wednesday, July 8, at
about 10pm, 38-year-old Oguntona was on a night duty on
Abeokuta and Lagos streets, Oyingbo, when the suspect got
to the area.
It was gathered that Sanni’s motorcycle was faulty, and he
was pushing it when the security man accosted him.
Our correspondent learnt that Oguntona, who reportedly had
an instruction not to allow motorcycle riders into the area at
that time, demanded to know Sanni’s mission on the street.
It was gathered that the suspect allegedly refused to answer
Oguntona, which made the security man to hold on to his
motocycle. The suspect was said to have drawn a knife and
stabbed Oguntona in the stomach.
The deceased reportedly raised the alarm, which alerted his
colleague on Tapa Street. He rushed to the scene and called
residents to take Oguntona to a hospital. The security man
reportedly died on the way.
A police source said Sanni initially fled the scene with his
motorcycle and the blood-stained knife.
He added that the neighbours, however, fished Sanni out
and reported the matter at the Denton Police Division.
He said, “There were two security men in the area. Oguntona
was on Abeokuta Street while his colleague was on Tapa
Street.
“The security man noticed Sanni coming with his motorcycle
into the area, and he stopped him to demand an explanation.
Instead of answering, the suspect drew a knife and stabbed
the deceased. A patrol van from the Okobaba Police Post
took Oguntona to the Lagos Island General Hospital, but he
died on the way.
“Sanni ran away, but his neighbours, who learnt of what
happened, brought him to the police at Denton.”
A resident in the area, who identified himself simply as
Sodiq, said some slums in the area were being used as
hideouts by hoodlums to hide weapons.
“It is not only knives that these touts carry about. They have
guns. When there is a little argument, they shoot and escape
into their slums. That was also where Sanni escaped to
before he was arrested.”
It was gathered that Oguntona, an indigene of Abeokuta,
Ogun State, had a young wife and a boy, identified as
Monday.
The deceased’s younger brother declined to speak with
PUNCH Metro on the incident, saying he did not have the
family’s permission to do so.
The Police Public Relations Officer, DSP Kenneth Nwosu,
confirmed the incident, adding that the matter had been
transferred to the State Department of Criminal
Investigation.
He said, “The suspect is in custody, while the corpse has
been deposited at the morgue of the Military Hospital, Yaba.
The matter has been transferred to the SDCI for further
investigation.”

Joke of the day

A doctor in my hood wrote on his clinic
signboard, “ Any treatment is #10,000 and if
we cannot treat you, we will pay you #20,000. ”
Wanting the #20,000 for himself, Akpors
came to me and explained what he saw.
Then we went to the doctor and Akpors
said:
“I can’t feel any taste.
The doctor asked a nurse to give Akpors a
few drops of medicine from box 22.
Upon taking the drops, Akpors shouted, “O
stop! It is urine!”
The doctor said, “Congratulation s, your
sense of taste is back now.”
Akpors, was very angry that he lost
#10,000.
He came back 2 weeks later to my house
and begged me to borrow him #10,000 and
promised to win this time.
Determined to get #20,000, when we go
there, The following conversation took
place between Akpors and the doctor
again:
AKPORS: I lost my memory.
DOCTOR: Nurse! Please give this man some
drops of medicine from box 22.
AKPORS: Wait doctor! But that medicine is
for sense of taste.
DOCTOR: Congratulations , your memory is
back!
Akpors Fainted!!!
Have a Wonderful Day ahead!!

Court jails man 15 years for trafficking marijuana

A Federal High Court in Lagos has sentenced one
Egbutiegbo Aloysius to a jail term of 15 years for trafficking
marijuana without lawful authority.
Aloysius, a businessman and a father of five, was convicted
and sentenced by Justice Mohammed Idris.
The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, which
arraigned Aloysius on one count of trading illegally in hard
drug, told the court that the convict was caught with 19.80
kilogrammes of Cannabis Sativa, otherwise called marijuana.
The convict was said to have been apprehended on June 12,
2014, at the departure hall of the Murtala Muhammed
International Airport, Ikeja, with the illicit substance which
the NDLEA said he had intended to export to China.
NDLEA charged Aloysius for contravening Section 11(a) of
NDLEA Act, Cap N30, Law of the Federation of Nigeria,
2004.
Though he had pleaded not guilty upon his arraignment, the
convict, however, elected to change his plea to guilty after
he was remanded in prison because he did not meet the
conditions attached to the bail given to him by the court.
Following his change of plea, the NDLEA prosecutor, Mary
Eke, reviewed the facts of the case during which she
tendered various exhibits and a report of the test on the illicit
substance.
Before the verdict was pronounced, the defence counsel,
Sunday Obunor, urged the court to temper justice with
mercy.
The judge, however, said, “I only show mercy to those that
take hard drugs either on health ground or otherwise, but
not for those that deal in it.
“I give you 15 years, effective from the first day of your
arrest.”

Woman cuts neighbour’s throat during argument

Helen Okeke has been arrested by the Lagos State Police
Command for allegedly killing her neighbour, identified only
as Rose, in the Ikota, Ajah area of the state.
It was learnt that Okeke slit Rose’s throat after the duo
reportedly had an argument over who poured urine on the
latter’s clothes that were spread on the entrance door to her
room.
It was gathered that Rose, who was reportedly getting
ready for her wedding, had returned from work in the
afternoon, and noticed a foul smell on the clothes spread on
her door.
It was learnt that the deceased went to the landlady, Alhaja
Iyabo Hamzat, to report the matter. The landlady was said to
have pacified her, offering to give her the money to buy
some detergent to wash the clothes.
However,a short time after, other neighbours, heard Rose’s
sudden cry for help in the corridor. The suspect was said to
have been found holding the deceased by the neck, with a
bloodstained kitchen knife in her hand.
Rose however died before she could be rushed to a nearby
hospital.
The matter was said to have been reported to the Ajah Police
Division, Ajiwe, and Okeke was arrested.
According to reports, Alhaja Hamzat said she had served a
notice to Okeke, commonly known as Mama Chinedu, on
several occasions to pack out of the house, adding that the
suspect refused to leave.
She said,
“At about 5pm that day, Rose came to my
apartment. She said she came to report Iya Chinedu.
“She said when she returned from her workplace,
she found her curtain, towel and other clothes
drenched with urine. She said she suspected that it
was Iya Chinedu who poured the substance on her
clothes.
“I begged Rose and told her that I would give her
money to buy detergent to wash the clothes. She
had hardly returned to her room when we heard
screams of ‘help help!’ We all rushed there and we
saw Rose in a pool of blood with Iya Chinedu holding
a bloodstained knife.
“With shock, we rushed Rose to a hospital, but she
died on the way.
“Iya Chinedu moved into my house just last year. She
moved in with her son. The son later left, saying she
was fed up with her mother. I had served her quit
notices on several occasions, but she refused to
move out.
“I went to the police at Ikota to report her, but the
policemen there said they would not meddle in
landlord-tenants’ affairs.”
Another resident, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said
that Okeke had been moody before that day.
Another resident in the area, identified only as Blessing, said
after Okeke had stabbed her neighbour, some angry youths
beat her up.
She said,
“Mama Chinedu did not show any remorse at all.
Some boys became angry and beat her up.
“Everyone was shocked, and wanted to find out what
offence was committed that made Okeke to stab the
young lady.”
The Police Public Relations Officer, DSP Kenneth Nwosu,
confirmed the incident.
He added that the matter would be transferred to the State
Department of Criminal Investigation, Yaba, for further
investigation.
He said,
“The police visited the scene and removed the
corpse to a public morgue in Yaba.
“The suspect has also been arrested. She will be
transferred to the SDCI after the police have
concluded their preliminary investigations.”
Punch