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.