Some really startling stories have been told of the people who killed their own parents around Nigeria.
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Between August 2017 and August 2018, 20 parents lost their lives at the hands of their own children in cases reported in the media. For a society that prides itself on children taking care of their parents, this is shocking.
When on May 4, 2018, the mutilated corpse of Rosaline Okadigbo was discovered in her native Nando, in Anambra State, it was such a shock. But even more shocking was the fact she was murdered by her own son Christopher Okadigbo, who removed her eyes and heart for money ritual purposes.
Mrs Okadigbo is only one of twenty parents in Nigeria murdered in the last one year by their own children. This figure comprises only reported cases in Nigerian newspapers between August 2017 and August 2018.
In this figure, nine mothers and 11 fathers have suffered this fate from their children. In a culture where children are taught to honour and care for their parents, this figure is alarming, raising questions as to what could have gone wrong.
The reasons for the various parricides, or killings of one’s parents, are as varied as the cases are.
Chief Nwode Nwigboaka of Ifelemenu village of Anambra State was on July 29 brutally murdered by His son Julius Nwode Nwigboaka, 23, who was on drugs. Pa Bulus Azi of Boloji village of Bauchi State was murdered by his son Nuhu Bulus who was also high on drugs. But Jonah and Gold Amanze of Umuokiri Nwosi village of Abia State were killed by their son Osinachi Amanze, who suffered from mental illness. Drug-related mental illness is said to be behind the murder of Papa Nathaniel Chukwuemerie killed by his son popularly called Big Boy in Ojinato, Enugu State.
Malam Adamu Gamji, was killed by his children Auwalu and Rabiu who accused him of witchcraft, the same reason Kwacha Manu of Marke Gada, Niger State, proffered for murdering his mother, Mama Inne Kaiyo.
In Maltawa village of Bauchi State, Malam Muhammadu Jauro Ori was murdered by his son Umaru Muhammadu Ori for the dissolution of his marriage in his absence. Pa Kusha Kure of Karava village in the FCT was murdered by his daughter for not consenting to her marriage proposal to her boyfriend. Love also cost 57-year-old Mrs Chinyere Ogbonna’s life when in June 2018 in Akoli, Abia State, she was murdered by her son for refusing to give consent to his relationship with a blood relation.
Other reasons besides these have resulted in parricide. In Muktum village of Yobe State, for instance, Malum Kwarantcheri was killed by his son for not joining the Boko Haram group. While in Pissa, Niger State, Malam Turuwa Ibrahim was killed by his son Abubakar Turuwa in a dispute over sharing cows in July 2018. While Madam Helen Eghagbe, 61, lost her life at the hands of her son Emmanuel Eghagbe, 27, over N20,000 pocket money in July at Ajangbadi in Lagos.
When Madam Bene Ikegwuonu, 67, of Okpunoeze Uraugu-Nnewi of Anambra State, returned from the market to prepare soup, she had no idea that a dispute over land would lead her son to attack her with a machete, killing her.
The list and the motives are endless, one no less brutal and gory than the other.
But for Guidance and Counselling expert, Mrs Olayinka Oparinde, she knows where the buck should stop.
“Now most parents don’t have time for their children, which has affected their up-bringing. The children are left to choose which values to adopt and that lack of closeness to children has created a gap in the bond between children and parents,” she said.
“The resultant effect is a lack of love from the children to their parents, so with little provocation, the children can decide to kill or hurt their parents. A child who from his infancy is allowed to fend for himself with little or no contribution from the parents will not have that bond that should exist between a man and his son or between a mother and her son,” she said.
But for a mother, Hajiya Amina Saidu from Kano, it is hard to believe that a normal rational person would kill his or her parent.
“Drugs are freely sold in the open markets which affect the mental health of the children. Also, poverty contributs a lot to the general decay in the wellbeing of some children. They can do anything to make money in order to have a good life,” she said.
A father, Mr Kazeem Odejobi blames the increasing number of parricide on the faltering marriage institution, saying this results in poor parental care. For him, moral decadence in the society, child abuse and peer group influences are some of the causes of this ugly development. He implored government to take proactive measure in ensuring that drugs are regulated in the country so that they will not be abused.
While experts and parents exchange blames, there is a lot hanging in the balance, like the life Madam Iyabo Fawole.
On August 19, 2018 at about 6 am, Madam Iyabo, 68, was already in her shop at Ayobo, a suburb of Lagos, when her son Taiwo Akinola, 29, asked to have a word with her in private. She left her shop and followed him into the house.
On getting to house, Taiwo immediately sent his Nephew Faruk to buy him a white handkerchief and a stick of cigarette. Alone with his mother, Taiwo attacked her with an automatic voltage stabilizer and a wooden stool, smashing her head and leaving her for dead.
It was the returning Faruk who found her in a pool of blood and raised an alarm. Today, Madam Iyabo is recovering from her injuries while her son, a reported member of Aiye confraternity (a cult group), is standing trial for attempted murder.
It is yet to be seen which way the scale of justice will tip but there is no doubt that an ugly trend is on the rise and so far, it is claiming the lives of the parents and their children who murder them.
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Source: Daily Trust
