Tragedy struck on Saturday on Ntueke Street, Awada Obosi, in the Idemili North Local Government Area of Anambra State, as a 47-year-old man, Stephen Nnadiogo, killed his four children, maid and took his own life.
Nnadiogo reportedly stabbed the victims to death with a knife and committed suicide.
The four children were aged between two and 10, while the housemaid, Ogechi, was said to be 18-year-old. All the victims hailed from Isu Njaba, Imo State.
PUNCH Metro learnt that Nnadiogo and his wife, 32-year-old Chika, had endured a strained marital relationship as he accused the wife of infidelity.
Chika reportedly told her husband that she did not bear the children for him whenever they had disagreements.
A witness, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said Chika was at her medicine shop around 8.45pm when all hell broke loose.
He said, “Whenever the couple had issues, the woman would say that he was not the biological father of their kids.
“She said that she engaged in extra marital affairs because her husband was impotent. The man would in turn call her a prostitute and a randy woman who could not be satisfied by one man.
“On Saturday, as the wife left their house for her medicine store in the evening, with their four children left behind, her husband called the children one after the other. He observed their face closely and thereafter began to stab them with a knife.”
The source said after killing all his children, Nnadiogo chased the housemaid around his apartment and killed her.
“He hid himself in one of the rooms in the four-storeyed building where they lived and took his own life by taking poison.
“Before he killed himself, he said ‘let her (Chika) now go and stay with the biological father of her children,’” the source added.
The Awada Divisional Police Officer, Mr. Martin Mbajunwa, confirmed the incident, noting that investigation was ongoing.
“The corpses of the victims have been deposited in a morgue,” he added.
The Anambra State Police Public Relations Officer, Nkeiruka Nwode, told one of our correspondents that Nnadiogo was recently discharged from a psychiatric hospital in Abia State.
She, however, said the police had yet to establish the immediate cause of the incident, noting that the command was awaiting the autopsy report.
She said, “I was at the scene of the incident yesterday (Saturday) and today (Sunday). For now, I can’t give a comprehensive report of what happened. Whatever that happened is inexplicable. It is better we wait for the medical reports to provide additional details. It was said that the man just left a psychiatric hospital in Arochukwu, Abia State.”
Nwode explained that the man dropped a letter before committing the crime, but said it was premature to reveal its content.
The PPRO added, “We have taken custody of the woman and she has made statements. We have cordoned off the scene and we are awaiting the autopsy report.
“As soon as we conclude the investigations, we will let the public know. When the police got to the place, the man had taken poison. He was still alive, but unconscious. He could not talk. We recovered the knife he used to stab the victims to death. The family lived on the last floor of a four-storeyed building. Before we could move him downstairs, he had died.”
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