BY OCHANYA OCHE/Makurdi
In a fit of anger, a young woman on Friday night slaughtered her husband, three children and herself in Makurdi, the Benue State capital.
The woman, whose name was given as Rachel, was said to have killed her husband, Nicholas Adestav, and slaughtered their three children, Nguavese, Senater and Joshua after which she was said to have stabbed herself to death.
Although, it was not clear why she had to take that step, neighbours said the woman had always been a very troublesome person and would always pick quarrels with people over very minute issues.
Some of their co-tenants said, trouble started between the young couple who both were staff of the Makurdi Local Government at about 8pm on Friday when suddenly they heard a sound of someone breaking the windscreen of a car within the compound.
One of the co-tenants, Salem Kaso, who spoke with our correspondent at their Vandeikya street residence said she was in church when her elder sister called to inform her about the incidence.
“When I got back from church at about 9:30pm, the whole family were already dead. I didn’t believe what I saw or what could have made a mother do that to her own children and entire family.
Another company tenant who simply gave her name as Sandra said they tried to prevail on the woman to open the door so they could settle the matter but she refused.
“We tried our best to mediate in the matter but the woman thereafter entered the room and locked the door, preventing other neighbours from gaining entrance into their apartment.
The tenant said the woman may have killed the husband before coming out to smash the windscreen of their gulf car after which she went back inside, killed her children and herself.
The woman was said to have first hit the husband with a pestle on the head and when he passed out, she thereafter cut open his throat after which he slaughtered their three children same way.
“When we heard the sound, we came out and found the woman breaking the windscreen of their vehicle. She then went inside and locked the door. We tried to prevail on her to open the door but she refused.
At a point when the fight was becoming too prolonged, we had to alert the caretaker of the house so that he could call the police but he said if we couldn’t settle the matter, we would be held responsible if anything happened.
“By the time we called in the police at about 9pm, she had already killed every member of the family. The police had to break open the door to find all members of the family dead in the pool of their blood,” Sandra said.
Residents of the area said the woman was a very troublesome person who had sometime ago stabbed a co-tenant and the case was still in court.
Confirming the report, Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), DSP Moses Yamu said the corpses had been deposited at St. Theresa’s mortuary and investigation had commenced into the matter.
