- Surviving child hospitalised, hovering between life and death
By Agnes Igwe
If anyone had told Mr. and Mrs. Benjamin Okeh early that fateful day that messengers of gruesome death had marked their family for an attack and were just waiting for the right time to strike, they would have found that incredible. And if they had been told their three children would be the main target, the couple would have taken every precautionary security measures to protect them from the merciless jaws of these heartless killers. Perhaps, they would have taken all known immediate steps and drastic measures to avert this horrible occurrence, if only they were aware of any issue between any member of their family and some other persons.
But oblivious of the presence of the heartless death merchants lurking around their sleepy village for the members of their family, Mr. and Mrs. Benjamin Okeh went about their daily business, leaving behind their three children at home.
But few hours later, the horrific attack on the Okeh’s household and the gruesome murder of two of their three children, threw the people of the sleepy community of Umuogodoakpu in Ngbo Ohaukwu Local Government Area of Ebonyi State in shock and shedding of hot tears of sorrow. The attackers also left another child of the family with life-threatening injuries. He is still struggling to survive in a hospital, where he’s currently lying critically ill.
The mother of the three children, Mrs. Okeh, is now not only distraught, but also traumatised and due to shock, has been unable to utter any word since the day the horrible incident occurred. She has remained mute!
She had unwillingly watched her two children being gruesomely hacked to death by two machete-wielding men, who also narrowly failed to snuff life out of the third, who they had mistaken for dead, like his younger siblings. He is the first child of the family.
The attackers had seized the children from their mother and heartlessly dealt them several machete blows before escaping from the crime scene and melting into thin air.
This horrendous incident, which has since left the family of businessman, Mr. Benjamin Okeh and others in deep mourning, began, when two unidentified men came into the family compound pretending to be visitors and requested to see Mr. Okeh and his wife. But they met only the three children.
The men, whose identity is still shrouded in mystery, allegedly persuaded the children to go and look for their mother in the neighbourhood in order to inform her of their presence. Thinking the two men were genuine visitors, the children, who had earlier told the visitors their parents had gone out, decided to go and fetch their mother.
Immediately Mrs. Oke arrived her home with her children in tow, to attend to the strange visitors, the men, who did not even introduce themselves to her, suddenly brought out their machetes and began to attack the children, hacking the two younger kids, Chidiebere, four, and seven-year-old Chisom, whom they first laid their hands on, to death. The passionate and vehement pleas and strident cries of their mother did not deter the two men from accomplishing their devilish mission. Having been satisfied that the two children had given up the ghost, they then pounced on their elder brother, Chinonso, with their machete.
VILLAGERS RECOUNT INCIDENT
Recounting the gory incident, a resident of the community, Festus Neno, said that the unidentified suspected assassins immediately fled the Okehs’ compound before neighbours could come to the aid of the family.
Neno said, “It was a horrible scene. I have never seen such a tragedy in this village. The men must have had something against the family for them to have carried out such evil. All we suddenly heard was the desperate wails of the woman, begging and crying for help, but by the time we got there, we met her rolling on the floor with the three children in a pool of blood.
“The only one that still had some breath was immediately rushed to the hospital. The other two were already lifeless and stone dead. It was a gory scene that drew tears from the eyes of everyone in the village.”
Neno explained that in addition to reporting the incident to the police, the elders of the village had resolved to launch an investigation into the killing of the children using traditional methods that would enable them to bring the perpetrators to book.
Another inhabitant of the village, who spoke to our correspondent on condition of anonymity, disclosed that the police had already arrested two suspects for the attack on the Okehs and the killing of their two children.
She explained that yet-to-be identified persons invaded the home of the Okehs and butchered their children.
She said, “Two of the children were said to have died on the spot, while one of them is now lying critically ill in an undisclosed hospital. The unimaginable killings show that the world is coming to an end. These are children of four and seven years old. The mother of the children was with her kids when the unidentified persons came and snatched the little child from her. The woman was shouting calling for help, but nobody could help her. The killer succeeded in butchering one of the children, and then proceeded to butcher the others, too.
“The unidentified persons stormed the family compound of the victims with the possible intention of wiping out the entire family. The children were brutally butchered. The two children are already dead and their remains deposited in the mortuary. The third one, who is the eldest, is lying critically ill in the hospital. His chances of survival are slim. Their father is in Onitsha in Anambra State, but I learnt that he had left Onitsha for the village. Two persons were arrested, but they said they claimed innocence. The mother of the children is still shocked and traumatised and has not been able to say anything since.”
VICTIMS’ MOTHER STILL IN SHOCK, KEEP MUTE
All efforts to speak with the mother of the murdered children were unsuccessful as family members didn’t allow visitors to have access to her.
It was, however, gathered from another family member, who pleaded anonymity, that all efforts to hear what happened from Mrs. Oke had not been successful as she was still in shock.
POLICE REACTS
The state Police Public Relations Officer, Loveth Odah, who confirmed the incident, said that an unidentified inhabitant of the area reported the incident to the police in Ohaukwu Division.
She said that the report from the unidentified inhabitant had it that Mrs. Oke was frying garri in her compound, when the two men stormed their house, attacked and killed her children.
The police spokesperson added that the attackers took the family unawares during which they snatched Chidiebere Okeh, from his mother and butchered him.
She also said that the attackers immediately then proceeded to kill seven-year-old Chisom Okeh and, thereafter, they attacked Chinonso Okeh, the family’s eldest child, who is now lying critically ill in an undisclosed hospital.
The PPRO, however, maintained that the police had already launched an investigation into the incident and had arrested two suspects, who might soon be charged to court.
