POVERTY REARS ITS UGLY HEAD AS FATHER KILLS SON FOR RITUAL AND SON KILLS FATHER FOR MISFORTUNE
Chimdalu, A seven-year boy has allegedly been killed by his father, Chidi Onyishi, ostensibly for money ritual.
This was announced by the Enugu State Police Command on Thursday who confirmed the arrest of the suspect and his accomplice, a pastor, identified as Okeke Eneokwor.
According to the wife of the suspect, Mrs Onyishi, popularly referred to as Mama Chidalu, the husband who has a Keke but is the driver to the accomplice rarely provides for upkeep.
"All through the pregnancy for Chidalu, she was starving because there was no money for food", she said.
The unemployed mother of six (before the murder of Chimdalu) who lives in a single room with her six children and husband further stated that even after birth, she had nothing to eat. This prompted her mother-in-law to beg people for charity before she was enabled with food donations.
Intelligence sources reveal that the 36-year-old killed the boy on October 20, 2021, but was however apprehended on Thursday.
Though no justifiable reason may suffice for the action, however, indications are rife that increasing poverty level due to increased unemployment and the rising cost of food prices may be attributable to the crime and even more dastard crimes in future.
Recall that several reactions had trailed the conflicting poverty statistics released by this dispensation. The internet went agog with visibly confused Nigerians when the Buhari administration stated they had lifted 10.5 million Nigerians out of poverty within the past two years. No sooner was the results released than the World Bank asserted that inflation has plunged seven million Nigerians into poverty.
The current continuous degeneration into the abyss of poverty may then not be unconnected with the interview the Director of the UN food scarcity organization had with CNN. His statement which created tremor on social media was his request that 2% of Elon Musk’s fortune would help solve global hunger. Consequently, people besieged Musk, imploring him to donate more towards the eradication of hunger.
In the same vein, the FAO in its Thursday report alerts that spike in prices of food commodities and energy stands as a threat for poor countries and consumers, who spend a greater amount of their income on staple food and other necessities.
According to its latest food outlook report, “Developing regions are facing sharp increases in the prices of basic staples such as cereals, animal fats, vegetable oils and oilseeds, while high-value foods, such as fruits and vegetables, fishery products and beverages are driving the bulk of the increases for developed regions.”
The report further noted that in 53 countries, households spent more than 60 percent of their income on necessities such as food, fuel, water and housing.
The FAO, therefore, warned that that rising food and fuel prices can have a highly regressive impact on poor consumers and urges particular “vigilance” in this regard.
In line with the need for vigilance as advocated by the FAO, it is not surprising that in a related development, an Akwa Ibom State High Court sitting in Uyo, the state capital, found Victor Obot guilty of the death of his father.
According to the suspect, a native of Ikot Obio Mkpong Ikono, in the Uyo Local Government Area, he blamed his father for the misfortune plaguing him and hence, the need to eliminate him as an end to his litany of misfortunes.
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In his judgement, Justice Okon Okon, said “There is credible and acceptable evidence that Victor Obot's father died shortly after the accused attacked him with a machete. I have no doubt that the accused did not only intend to cause the deceased grievous bodily harm but resolved to eliminate him for the nebulous, unsubstantiated allegation that his father was the cause of his problems,” Justice Okon said.
Eons Intelligence, therefore, advises that in the face of a heightened cost of living, there is a need to exercise caution and vigilance to guide against similar incidents in the future.
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