By O’Star Eze & Praise Necherem
Forty-two-year-old, Chiedu Ikegwuonu, has fled his family home in Uruagu Nnewi, Nnewi North Local Government Area of Anambra state after murdering his mother, Benedeth Ikegwuonu, over allegation of witchcraft.
The deceased was attacked with a machete, sustaining severe injuries on the neck and throat which apparently led to her death.
Orient Weekend gathered from a reliable family source that the suspect murdered his 67-year-old mother in cold blood, following a prophecy by his pastor that the deceased was a witch and responsible for his struggle in life.
According to the source, Chiedu was encouraged to eliminate her in accordance with the biblical injunction: “suffer no witch to live.”
The deceased, it was gathered, returned home from the market to prepare okra and ogbono soup and was said to be grinding the ogbono when the suspect approached from behind and slit her throat with a machete and fled the scene, leaving her in the pool of her own blood.
The deceased was said to be blessed with four boys and three girls but lost one of the ladies in a fatal motor accident.
A family member disclosed that the suspect who returned to Nnewi due to business failure in Aba, had been having a running battle with his late mother over his attempt to take over a piece of land belonging to his younger brother.
The source who spoke under anonymity due to family reasons revealed that: “The woman tried her best to improve the condition of the son to the point of giving him money to raise the foundation of his building from the money she got after her husband’s burial.
“This was due to Chinedu’s inability to do anything about the foundation of his building after one and half years, coupled with the fact that the second daughter was taking care of her mother before her untimely death after a fatal accident,” he said.
According to him, the deceased went to the extent of withdrawing money from her late daughter’s bank account for the suspect to complete his building after which he turned round to take over a portion of land belonging to his younger brother.
“He even abandoned the Anglican Communion and started attending a whit garment church as part of his efforts to mount pressure on his dead mother,” the source added.
The Anambra State Police Public Relations Officer, Haruna Mohammed who confirmed the incident, told Orient Weekend that the suspect’s younger brother, Onyedika Ikegwuonu reported the case to Nnewi Central Police Station on July 24, 2018 as at 2:40pm.
Mohammed disclosed that police detectives from the station led by the DPO visited the scene of the crime and rushed the victim to Akwudo hospital where she was confirmed dead by a medical doctor.
He further disclosed that the corpse was photographed and deposited at Akwudo morgue for autopsy while efforts are in top gear to arrest the suspect.
Orient Weekend further learnt that the suspect’s wife and son had been arrested by officers of Nnewi Central Police Station in anticipation that the suspect would come for his family.
Reacting to the incident, the Chairman, Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria (PFN), Anambra State Chapter, Reverend Moses Ezedebego, said that it was unfortunate that people fall prey to falsehood.
He enjoined Christians to be led by the word of God not prophecies, adding that most pastors are radicals who go about destroying families.
“Jesus never divided families neither did any of his apostles. Rather, Jesus preached that we should love our enemies.
“At one point the apostles wanted to call down fire and he rebuked them telling them that they do not know the spirit that they received. But today, you see people throw caution to the wind. Most of their practices are not based on the revelation of Christ. Many who call themselves prophets are native doctors that put on suit and call themselves pastors,” he said.
He, however, said that even if the suspect’s mother was a witch, the pastor should have handled it based on the new testament revelation using prayers and ministration to the deceased.
On the scripture, “suffer no witch to live”, Ezedebego explained that the scripture is not meant for the present day but for Israelites during the time they practiced theocracy and lived solely on the Torah.
He pointed out that Jesus Christ never killed anybody during his ministry even though there were witches during his time. “We have our constitution that guides our actions while the Israelites were guided by the Torah because they were practicing theocracy. So, that scripture is for their community not for us.
“The approach if the lady was actually a witch would have been praying and ministering to her. If you are a child of God, witches cannot do anything to you. If you act on that scripture, the constitution of Nigeria will hold you accountable for your actions,” the PFN chairman said. https://orientdailynews.com.ng/news/man-kills-mother-over-witchcraft/ Lalasticlala seun mynd44 |
