A 19-year-old man, Ibibe Okonta, who stabbed his seven-month-old pregnant neighbour seven times, leading to loss of the pregnancy, said he was told by an evil spirit to carry out the dastardly act.
The victim, Mrs. Oyinyechi Chinaka, a mother of two, was said to have been rushed to the Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH) Idi-Araba, Mushin.
Although Mrs Chinaka survived, she lost the pregnancy. Okonta was said to have stabbed Chinaka in her stomach, arm and neck and left her to bleed to death. Chinaka would have died, but for the timely intervention of neighbours.
Chinaka, who is now recuperating in the hospital, said that Okonta stabbed her in their compound in Mushin.
Recalling the event, the victim said that she entered her room and saw Okonta riffling through her purse. She said: “He was going through my purse to steal money. I caught him red handed. He was shocked.
I accused him of being the person that used to steal all missing money in the compound. I was shocked myself because I trusted him. We have never quarrelled before. As I was still talking to him, he ran out of the room and before I knew what was happening, he came back with a kitchen knife.
“He said that he would stab me with it. I thought he was joking. But to my shock, he moved closer and as I attempted to escape, he held me and started stabbing me with the knife. He stabbed me until I lost consciousness. I did not know what happened next. I only found myself in the hospital.
After so many surgeries, I was revived. My husband told me that I was stabbed and would have died but for God’s mercy. I couldn’t feel my baby anymore.” Okonta was alleged to have gone about his normal duty after inflicting knife cuts on the pregnant woman.
When he was finally confronted, Okonta confessed to his elder brother that he was the person who stabbed Chinaka. Okonta said he was pushed by an evil spirit to stab the woman. He added: “I went to her house to steal money.
She caught me, but a spirit told me to stab her. So I went to the kitchen and took the knife and stabbed her with it. I stabbed her because I didn’t want her to reveal to the other neighbours that I’m a thief. “I fled the house when I saw blood everywhere. It was my brother that exposed me. He saw a wound on my hand and questioned me.
My elder brother took me to Oloasan Police Station, where I was arrested.” Chinaka’s brother in-law, Henry, said that while they were frantically trying to save the woman’s life, Okonta’s brother had gone to report the matter at the police station. He was later charged to court for attempted murder.
Henry is, however, not happy with the charge levelled against Okonta. The man accused the police of conducting shoddy investigation. According to him, Okonta should have been charged for murder.
He said: “The woman lost her seven months’ old pregnancy due to the stabs. The baby is in the mortuary, but the DPO of Olosan Police Station and the Investigating Police Officer (IPO) charged Okonta to court without waiting to hear our own side of the story. We are appealing to the police authorities to revisit the case and amend the charge to include murder. We want justice to be done.”
A human rights activist, Mr. Ishola Agbodemu, said: “If she was not stabbed and made to go through such terrible experience, she would have given birth to her baby by now. The child’s murder should not be overlooked by the police.”