There is no doubt that violence has
become part of our daily lives now but it
is always worrisome nonetheless.
What is
unfathomable is what would drive
someone to butcher a woman and her two
children. MATTHEW DIKE writes about a
suspected drug dealer who, after stabbing
a boy, went further and inflicted wounds
on the mother and daughter, landing them
in hospital
If Mrs Helen Okoro, a widow and mother
of two had known that picking a quarrel
with a neighbor who had stabbed her son
would also land her and daughter in
hospital, she probably would have just
reported the case and allowed the law to
do justice.
However, being human, naturally her
maternal instincts would kick in and
common sense would be the last thing on
her mind but the desire for revenge.
It is
natural for any woman to react that way
towards someone who had just stabbed
her son.
It was indeed a shock when Mrs. Okoro’s
demand to ‘kill her’ was met by her
neighbor, known as Babalawo, who had
stabbed her son in the head. In her
hysterical state, she screamed that the
man should kill her instead of her son.
It was said that Babalawo had boasted that he would kill
the woman and any member of her family
that challenged him, and before the
twinkle of an eye, he had gone inside and
reappeared with a broken bottle in his
hand.
Okoro said she thought the man only
wanted to frighten or intimidate her so
that she would scamper for safety.
She
said she never envisaged that he meant
business until he reached out to stab her
in her chest with the broken bottle,
making her jump back a little. However,
she did not escape as he succeeded in
slicing in between her breast and the
armpit region.
“I screamed for help but nobody was
there to come to my rescue. The man
also wanted to stab me in the face, but I
quickly used my hand to block it, that
was why the broken bottle cut me in the
hand.”
The unforgettable pains
Continuing, the widow said, “There was
blood all over my body. I thought I was
going to die. I could not bear the pains so
I cried like a baby. I was screaming and
rolling in the pool of my blood until
somebody called my daughter, Blessing
who rushed back home. On seeing me,
she cried, thinking that the man had killed
me.”
Unfortunately for Blessing, who also
believed that the man would not harm
her, she got what she never bargained for
as the man stabbed her in the hand and
she began to bleed. She never suspected
that the man is not the merciful type.
A visibly shaken Mrs Okoro went on with
her narration. “The man is a known Indian
hemp seller in the area. He knew I had
nobody to run to. He knew I’m from a
very poor family. He believed he would kill
me and members of my family and
nothing will happen. From what has
happened so far, if this man kills me and
members of my family the police will not
do anything.”
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