A 38-year-old suspect, Matthew (surname witheld), who was recently arrested for allegedly macheting his octogenarian father, to death, has said that he carried out the act to satisfy his father’s demand.
The suspect stated that his father had always told him that he should let him have rest of mind, which he interpreted to mean the old man asking to be killed. Not only that, he had nursed a pent-up anger against his father for refusing to hand over to him the N70,000 he kept with him, and for leaving him hungry after he told him to leave his residence in Oshodi, Lagos State.
Matthew was apprehended by the Ogun State Community, Social Orientation and Safety Corps, codenamed So-Safe, and handed over to Sango divisional headquarters of Ogun State Police Command. From there, he was transferred to the State Criminal Investigation Department, Eleweran, Abeokuta, for further investigation.
So-Safe Corps, in a statement, had disclosed how its officers were called and informed of the suspect killing his biological father by inflicting several machete cuts on his head.
Though the octogenarian was rushed to a hospital, the doctor who attended to him on arrival at the hospital confirmed him dead.
Matthew was said to have resisted arrest but was eventually subdued and taken into custody. During preliminary investigation, he said that it was his father’s refusal to give him the N70,000 he kept with him since 2022 that made him to kill him. He added that, after quitting his job, his parents did not take care of him.
Born in Mushin, Lagos, but from Imo State, the suspect said that his father put pressure on him to leave the job and return home. After this, according to him, all his efforts to engage in small scale business with the money he kept with his father were frustrated.
In an interview with Matthew at Eleweran, he said: “I was working in a company at Ajao Estate. However, problem arose when my parents asked me to leave the job and come back home. In August 2021, my father came to where I was living in Oshodi, Lagos. He told me to give him rest by coming home.
“I was very angry because I didn’t understand why he wanted me to kill him. He ran as I pursued him to leave my room. I stopped going to our family’s residence in Sango, Ogun State, and whenever I was in that area, I avoided my father. If I saw him, I would take another way. I was seeing my mother only.
“One day, I came to see my mother and she told me to do my father’s bid. After some time, my father called my office and I observed some changes. In September 2021, my landlady also told me not to pay house rent again, asking me to move out. I was not owing the landlady any money but there used to be quarrels between me and other tenants. I lived in that house in Oshodi for eight years.
“My work place also started reducing the salary I was being paid. When I observed all the changes, I called my father and told him what I was experiencing. He said he had told me to pack my belongings and return home. My brother came and assisted me in packing on December 31 that year. My father was not around when I got to our house, and when he came in, we hugged each other. He reminded me of what he discussed with me and we almost quarreled again.
“In January 2022, I gave my father N20,000 to keep for me. In August, I gave him another N50,000. I also kept N20,000 with my mother. By then, I had stopped working. I was so stressed but my father kept telling me that I should do what he asked me to do to him.
“In November 2022, I asked my father to give me the money with him for me to start selling rubber footwear but he denied having my money. In January this year, I noticed that he truly wanted me to kill him. One day, I called my mother to discuss the negative trend in our family. My elder brother had died.
“She told me that she knew of my father’s request, saying that was why he didn’t want to give me my money, as an act of provocation. Later, she also denied my giving the money to my father. I was tired of sitting at home. I went to a bakery to work but my mother told the business owner to sack me. She said I should just be at home, saying that she would be taking care of my needs.
“By then, I was under pressure. I was not allowed to work, and when I asked for money, I was not given. I fought with my father and seriously injured him. However, he said that injuring him was not enough as he wanted me to kill him. I went to Sango police station to report what was happening. I stood outside and told police officers in a loud voice that my father wanted me to kill him. They didn’t let me in but brought me to Eleweran in Abeokuta. I went back home when we didn’t see the person the police brought me to.
“On August 28, I was in my room with the plantain I went to cut in our backyard farm. I wanted to sell it and use the money to feed. Unfortunately, I didn’t get any buyer. When I asked my mother for money to eat, she gave me N700.
“My father came home and saw that I had cut two bunches of plantain. He asked me why I did so without informing him. He threatened to pick a cutlass and cut down all the plantain trees. He said I should kill him like he had been telling me.
“We dragged the issue as I held him, but I later went to my room. While I was there, my father started banging on the door of my room, shouting that I should come out and kill him. That was when I picked the cutlass I used in cutting the plantain and started inflicting machete cuts on his head.
“People around heard what was happening and rushed to our house. I locked the backyard door when the community people asked me to come out. When they insisted, I went out to meet them. That was how So Safe officers were called and I was arrested.”
The Commissioner of Police in the state command, Abiodun Alamutu, said that the suspect would be arraigned in court after the completion of investigation.
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