The view from the veranda of house No 5, Olalekan Adeoya Street, Off Liasu Road, Ikotun area of Lagos is one that is likely to send shivers down the spine of whoever knew what took place on April 15, 2016 right in front of the building.
Anyone standing on the veranda of the top floor apartment of the Megwa family will be looking directly at the exact spot where 23-year-old twins Elvis and Lewis Megwa were both stabbed.
That is one spot their father, who is in his early 60s, has not been strong enough to direct his sight, days after he lost one of his sons in a tragic attack that put the one who survived in intensive care.
When our correspondent visited the family on Wednesday, the grief-stricken Mr. Emmanuel Megwa shook his friend as he delved into the seemingly harmless confrontation, which degenerated to a brutal attack on his family.
Mr. Megwa, who spoke in an emotion-laden low tone, explained that on that night which turned out to be the worst day of his life, a girl living with him had gone out to buy something in a kiosk which doubles as the security post and petty trading store used by the security guard employed to man the street gate in front of the Megwas’ house.
He said, “My boys – the twins – were standing on the veranda watching the goings on on the street and at the girl walking out of the house around 10.30pm.
“When the girl got to the guard’s kiosk, about three boys, who were standing around the area, started harassing and groping her. She raised the alarm and I had to rush downstairs to challenge the boys, just to make them stop.
“As I rushed downstairs, one of my twin boys followed me. I opened the gate and noticed that the boys were still standing by. I asked them simply why they were harassing the girl and one of them challenged me for asking them such question.
“They started charging towards us, becoming aggressive, so, I pushed my son back. As he was trying to move back, he fell and got up again. At that point, his brother had come downstairs to ask what was happening.”
It was learnt that while this ruckus went on, some of the friends of the three young men came to the scene. Some of them were said to have raced to a nearby bear parlour and picked bottles of beer, which they brought to the scene, ready to do battle with their weapons.
Mr. Megwa told our correspondent that as soon as he saw the men racing out of the street gate in an aggressive manner, he shouted to the street’s gateman to lock the gate, which he failed to do.
Unfortunately, the men came back armed with broken bottles.
“As we retreated, they seemed to be surrounding us and before I knew what was happening, the girl living with me screamed. She shouted that Elvis had been stabbed. At that point, I rushed to my son, who was already bleeding heavily from his neck. Lewis was also stabbed in the shoulder and stomach.
“The girl removed her wrapper and used it to cauterise the gushing blood. I also removed my singlet and added it to it. I was just concerned about the welfare of my children. Even the girl sustained minor stab injury in her stomach.”
It was learnt that both Elvis and Lewis were rushed to a nearby hospital where Elvis was pronounced dead.
As of the time of filing this report, Lewis had not been informed that his twin brother was dead.
Mr. Megwa dabbed at his eyes as he started another round of sobbing when he told our correspondent how Lewis asked everybody who visited him in his hospital about his twin.
“Everybody keeps telling him that Lewis is fine and that he would see him soon,” he said.
For the Megwa family, losing such a promising young man at such an age and in such a tragic circumstance is not the only cause of their sorrow.
It was learnt that Elvis was studying Mass Communication at the National Open University.
“The twins are my inspiration. They are so focused that they always told me not to worry that through their own businesses, they would be able to pay their own school fees. They are very entrepreneurial. The only reason they enrolled at the Open University was to be able to undertake their own business,” the grieving father said.
The twins were stabbed by one Alex Onuora, who has since fled though the police at the Ikotun division have taken into custody members of his family. Some other suspects involved in the attack have also been arrested.
The deceased’s family explained that the security man who failed to lock the gate of the street during the attack had gone into hiding. They said even though the security rule of the street was that he should have locked the gate by 10pm, he failed to do this, allowing the hoodlums’ incursion into the scene of the attack.
The area where the twins were stabbed had been largely peaceful without the terror of hoodlums until that day.
Mr. Megwa said how such a disagreement could degenerate to the point of such a brutal attack was still a mystery to him.
When our correspondent visited the home of the Megwas, the sobbing mother of the twins was being consoled by a hoard of women who surrounded her in a room.
The police spokesperson, Dolapo Badmus, who confirmed the case said the police are still on the trail of the principal suspect in the case.
She said investigation was still ongoing as the police already have in custody some suspects who have vital information about what happened that day.
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