News
‘Why I Tried To Kill My Mother’
Strong indications have emerged from medical doctors and pastors on the proper mental health of a 27-year-old jobless graduate who attempted to slash open the throat of his 50-year-old mother on the allegation that she possessed witchcraft. There is a consensus that the man may be mentally ill due to stress and other social factors.
It will be recalled that the young man simply identified as Nnamdi Mokoye made frantic efforts to murder his mother based on the prophecy and revelation of his church pastor that his mother who divorced his father 21 years ago is the evil architect of all the unexplainable series of woes and calamities that his family has been experiencing for years, which had hitherto defied remedy till date.
However, a few hours to the New Year, he reasoned within himself that it would be suicidal to start the year 2010 in the same harrowing condition he had been facing. Hence, be set out from the house of one of his friends whom he had been staving with to Ajangbadi-Sibiri, Okokomaiko, an outskirt of Ojo Local Government of Lagos State to confirm from his mother why she intentionally bewitched all her children including him to the point that all her seven children are wallowing in peculiar calamities, six out of her seven children are jobless while the only one who is gainfully employed has no settled home as her husband threw her out of his house without any known cause despite all entreaties from family members.
One thing led to the other, and before neighbours could get wind of what was happening, Mrs Abigail Nwaje, Nnamdi’s mother, had already been brutally butchered having been mercilessly lacerated on the throat with all her teeth pulled out with a hammer. The suspect who has been charged to court for attempted murder revealed to reporters at the information unit of the Lagos State police command why he was bent on murdering his mother a few hours to 201O.
Nnamdi, who was finding it difficult to utter words, stated that having experienced frustration, agony and unexplainable ill-luck for almost three decades, he started going to ‘churches for deliverance’ and it was in the process that he and his older sister who was sent packing out of her matrimonial home by her husband for no just cause were told that their mother was the brain behind their suffering and hardship.
Reacting to the strange behaviour of the young man, Dr Kalu Isaiah of the Department of Psychiatry, Lagos State University Teaching Hospital (LASUTH) maintained that there is a big probability that Nnamdi is suffering from mental illness.
According to Kalu, “Merely raising hands to beat one’s mother is bad enough, and for one to have taken a knife and slashed one’s mother’s throat shows that the person is mentally ill or was mentally ill at the time he committed the offence. There is something we call delusion in psychiatry, which is a false fixed belief.
“The young man would have been convinced beyond reasonable doubt that his mother was behind his retarded progress and that of his siblings too. That act in essence defies logic and reality. It is beyond the boundary of normal behaviour. There is likelihood that the young man is suffering from paranoid delusion. “Believing strongly that somebody is against him and wants to harm him. It happens, but people don’t do such things. Ordinarily, what happens is that people may not talk to the person again or abandon the person,” he said.
On factors that might have generated into mental illness for the jobless graduate, Kalu revealed that there are a lot of things that could have resulted into mental illness for a jobless graduate. He also opined that it could be hereditary. “There could be a form of genetic disposition transferred from parents to the offspring. That does not mean that anyone whose parents have that must compulsorily also have it,” he said.
Pastor Oluwasegun of the Mountain of Fire and Miracles Ministry, Igando branch, speaking on the ugly development, corroborated what Dr Kalu said that no pastor would have told the young man to go and kill his mother for any reason. According to him, witchcraft is an evil spirit which one can be delivered from.
“It is very unbelievable in this age to hear such a thing, especially from a well-educated young man. Nnamdi Mokoye’s revelation that he was told severally by his pastor that his mother is the evil architect of all the unexplainable series of woes and calamities that his family has been experiencing for years which had defied remedy till date is highly questionable,” he said.
Furthermore, the Lagos State Police Command spokesman, Frank Mba, revealed that the suspect has already been charged to court for attempted murder and that his mother is responding well to treatment at the hospital.
Mokoye’s is the second case of attempted murder bordering on witchcraft allegation since last year in Lagos. One Olubukula in a similar vein murdered her mother mid-last year because she alleged that the latter was a witch who was behind, all her woes in the United States of America.
Nobel Laureate, Professor Wole Soyinka, has called on Nigerians to reject silence in the face of extrajudicial killings and other abuses of human rights.
Soyinka stressed that accountability and civic courage remain essential to rebuilding public confidence in the nation’s institutions.
He made the call during the 28th Wole Soyinka Lecture held in Port Harcourt, last Friday as part of activities marking his 92nd birthday.
The lecture, themed “Reclaiming the Nigerian State through Accountability, Justice and Civic Courage,” drew participants from different sectors of society.
The renowned playwright and human rights advocate said the country’s greatest tragedy was not only the unlawful killings carried out by state and non-state actors, but also the silence that often follows such incidents, allowing perpetrators to evade justice.
According to him, indifference by citizens to abuses of power and violations of fundamental human rights has contributed to the persistence of extrajudicial killings and other forms of injustice across the country.
Soyinka said he dedicated this year’s lecture to victims of unlawful killings, noting that the event was intended to honour individuals who had lost their lives as a result of failures within the justice system and society’s inability to protect the sanctity of human life.
He stressed that the lecture was dedicated to what he described as the basic unit of every society – the human being, and urged Nigerians to place greater value on human dignity irrespective of ethnicity, religion or social status.
The Nobel Laureate recalled several incidents of violence, including the fatal shooting and killing of a young man in Ugheli in Delta State by a police officer, and the mob killing of Deborah Yakubu in Sokoto State sometime ago, lamenting that many of those responsible are yet to face justice.
He expressed concern that some perpetrators of violent crimes had openly admitted their actions without fear of prosecution, describing such situations as evidence of serious failures within the nation’s justice system.
Soyinka maintained that when justice is delayed or denied, public confidence in state institutions continues to erode, thereby encouraging further violations of human rights.
Responding to critics who accuse him of promoting religious or ethnic divisions whenever he spoke on such issues, Soyinka dismissed the allegations and pointed out that his advocacy has always centred on the protection of human life and the rule of law.
He urged Nigerians to remain vigilant and continue demanding justice in cases of alleged extrajudicial killings, including the recent shooting of a young man by a police officer, stressing that every life deserves equal protection under the law.
The literary icon also recalled an earlier pledge by a past incoming president to make public the files relating to unresolved assassinations and extrajudicial killings, questioning the status of the promised investigations.
He challenged citizens to continue asking questions about unresolved cases, insisting that justice, accountability and respect for human dignity are indispensable to building a peaceful, democratic and inclusive Nigerian society.
The Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) has clarified that there was no fire at Terminal 2 of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos, contrary to its earlier advisory.
Earlier yesterday, FAAN had announced that a fire incident had occurred at Terminal 2 of the nation’s busiest airport, and assured that its Aerodrome Rescue and Firefighting Service had been deployed to contain the situation.
There were also reports that activities were briefly disrupted at the airport yesterday after smoke was seen inside parts of the terminal.
Videos circulating online showed passengers kept standing outside the terminal while firefighters responded to the incident.
However, in an update issued less than two hours later by the Director of Public Affairs and Consumer Protection, Henry Agbebire, and posted on FAAN’s official X handle, the authority said preliminary findings showed that the smoke seen at the terminal was caused by the discharge of the facility’s FM-200 fire suppression system.
“Further to our earlier advisory regarding the incident at Terminal 2 of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos, the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) wishes to provide the following update,” the statement read.
“Preliminary findings indicate that there was no fire at the terminal. The smoke observed within the affected area resulted from the discharge of the terminal’s FM-200 fire suppression system. The reason for the activation of the fire suppression system is currently being investigated,” FAAN stated.
The authority said normal operations had resumed at the terminal while investigations were ongoing to determine the cause of the incident.
“Normal operations have since resumed at the terminal, while detailed investigations are ongoing to determine the exact cause of the incident,” the statement added.
The authority thanked passengers, airlines, airport users and other stakeholders for their understanding and cooperation.
FAAN appreciated the understanding and cooperation of passengers, airlines, airport users and all stakeholders, and reiterated its commitment to the safety and security of all airport operations.
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