by Esther Onyegbula

A mother of two, Mrs. Oyinyechi Chinaka, is
recuperating after she was reportedly stabbed
several times by her neighbour (names withheld) in
Mushin area of Lagos.
Mrs Chinaka was rushed to the Lagos University
Teaching Hospital (LUTH), Idi-Araba, but she lost
her seven months pregnancy.
The victim’s agony began after she allegedly
caught the neighbour stealing money from her
purse and, not wanting the woman to expose him
at number 11, Anjorin Street, Mushin, Lagos, the
suspect was said to have stabbed Mrs. Chinaka
with a kitchen knife severally on her stomach
,arm and neck and left her to bleed to death .
The mother of two could have died but for the
timely intervention of neighbours who went looking
for her and called for help after they saw her lying
in her room in a pool of blood.
While neighbours were at a loss about what
happened to her, the assailant went about as if
nothing happened until he was found out by his
elder brother and he confessed to stabbing Mrs.
Chinaka .
The victim, who
spoke to Sunday
Vanguard on her
hospital bed,
narrated, “ I was at
home that fateful
day when my
children came to me
in the kitchen where
I was cooking to say
electricity had been
restored, and that I
should come to the
living room to play a
cartoon video, called
Power Ranger, for
them. I left what I
was doing and
went to operate the
television for them.
But to my
astonishment, I saw
the neighbour in my
room. He was going
through my purse to steal money. I caught him red
handed. He was shocked .I said, ‘ So, you are the
one stealing all the money that has been missing in
this compound’. I was shocked because I trusted
him and we had never quarrelled before. I usually
left my children with him and he entered my
house the way he liked, but for him to be stealing
was shocking to me. As I was still talking to him, he
ran out of the room and before I knew what was
happening, he came back with a kitchen knife and
told me that he will stab me with it. I thought he
was joking but to my shock, he moved close and,
as I attempted to escape, he held me and started
stabbing me with the knife . He stabbed me until I
lost consciousness. I did not know what happened
next. I only found myself in hospital and, after
surgery, I was revived. My husband told me that I
was stabbed and would have died but for God’s
mercy. I could not feel my baby anymore. I was
seven months pregnant but my baby was not
kicking”.
Mr. Henry , Mrs Chinaka’s brother- in-law,
explained the trouble the family went through to get
medical help for her.
“ When we heard that she was stabbed, the family
rallied round and rushed her to LUTH. Doctors told
us that she had to use the only ICU machine but a
lot of people were on queue to use it. We ran helter
skelter to look for money to deposit for her
treatment. We had to deposit N500,000 and we
have spent more than a million naira on her
treatment but nobody knew who stabbed her and
she was on life support machine for months .
Unknown to us, the assailant’s elder brother had
reported him to the police at the Olosan Police
Station and the police had charged him to court for
attempted murder without carrying out thorough
investigation nor did they visit the woman in the
hospital” , Henry said. “ We have been prevailing on
the police to include the case of murder in the
charge against the assailant because the woman
lost her seven months old pregnancy due to the
stabbing. The baby is in the mortuary but the
DPO of the Olosan Police Station and the IPO are
not ready to cooperate with us as they went on to
charge the boy to court without hearing from the
family of the victim. We are appealing to the police
to revisit the case and amend the charge to
include murder. We want justice to be done.”
A human rights activist, Mr. Ishola Agbodemu,
urged the police to get justice for the victim,
especially in the light of the lost pregnancy.
“If she had not been stabbed and made to go
through such a terrible experience, she would have
given birth to a child by now. The child’s murder
should not be overlooked by the police”, Agbodemu
said.
In his statement to the police, the suspect said he
was pushed by an evil spirit to stab Mrs. Chinaka.
“I went to her house to steal money. She caught me
but a spirit told me to stab her, so I went to the
kitchen and took the knife and stabbed her with it. I
stabbed her because I did not want her to reveal to
other neighbours that I am a thief. I fled the house
when I saw blood gushing out. It was my brother
who exposed me. He saw a cut wound on my hand
and he questioned me where I got it. I had to
confess to him that I used knife to stab Mrs
Chinaka. My elder brother took me to the Olosan
police station and I was arrested”.

www.vanguardngr.com/2016/01/tenant-removes-neighbours-7-mth-pregnancy-with-kitchen-knife/

The minds of humans are way deep in terror.