27th June, 2021
By Jethro Ibileke/Benin
For allegedly refusing to grant him N2,000 loan, a 45-year-old Delta man, simply identified as Christopher, has allegedly beaten his wife, Mrs. Isoken Christopher, to death.
The incident occurred on Saturday night at No. 1, Agbontaen Street, beside Ebvareke Secondary School, off Agboniro Street, Uselu, Benin, Edo State capital.
The Delta State indigene who works for a waste disposal company in Benin, was described as a chain smoker and a drunk by the eldest of his three children, Augustine.
Augustine, 13, disclosed that his father who was always beating his mother at the slightest provocation, called their mother on phone to demand for N2,000.
He further disclosed that when his father returned home at about 9 pm, started beating the deceased, when the money was not quickly given to him.
He said: “I tried to give my mother paracetamol and drinking water after the initial beating but my father threw them away.
“She then went to bathe after which she lied down outside to rest a little before coming inside to sleep but my father locked us inside the room and resumed the beating of my weak mother outside.
“Neighbours later helped us to open the door, only to see our dead mother on the ground. She was then rushed to two different hospitals in the neighbourhood where she was confirmed dead.”
Augustine narrated that his father, who wanted to escape from the two-room apartment after killing his mother, was apprehended and handed over to the police.
The corpse of the business woman who sold fashion items, was deposited in a morgue in Benin by policemen.
Edo Police Command Public Relations Officer, SP Kontongs Bello, confirmed the incident, noting that the timely arrival of policemen at the scene saved the suspect from being mobbed by angry youths in the area.
He added that the suspect had been detained at the Textile Mill Toad Police Station, from where he would be transferred on Monday to Edo Police Headquarters, for further investigation.
“The man asked his wife to loan him some money out of the money she made at a burial she earlier attended on Saturday. When she refused, he then beat her to death,” Kontongs said.
