No fewer than 88 fathers and mothers have been murd-ered by their children in Nigeria within a period of six years, data compiled by Daily Trust has shown.
The data revealed that the killers – sons and daughters – mostly between the ages of 18 and 35, used knives, sticks, pestles, shovels and other tools to stab, hack or bludgeon their parents to de@th.
According to the data, the states with the highest number of parricides are Niger, 7; Lagos and Enugu 6 each; Anambra, Akwa Ibom and Ebonyi, 5 each; with Kano and Edo, 4 each.
Osun, Abia, Ekiti, and Ondo record 3 cases each; Bayelsa, Adamawa, Kwara, Delta, Bauchi, Jigawa, Ogun, Yobe, Oyo, Gombe, FCT and Imo have 2 cases each; while Kaduna, Kogi and Plateau recorded 1 case each.
Of the total of 87 parricide cases that took place within the six-year period, 39 mothers and 45 fathers were murdered in different circumstances.
In as many as four out of five cases recorded, the killers admitted that they were under the influence of drugs when they perpetrated the act.
However, others attributed the killings to rituals, desperation for inheritance, cannibalism, witchcraft and other disagreements with the parents in terms of marriage and money issues.
Experts who spoke to Daily Trust said they were appalled that most children these days don’t have an emotional attachment, empathy and love for their parents to the extent that very few gave a second thought before harming them.
“In the past, parents meant a lot to children, especially in an African setting. Parents meant everything to their children; they were their providers, mentors and protectors,” said Zainab Habibu, a 63-year-old housewife.
“Sadly, modernity has corrupted that affinity to the extent that children can sacrifice their parents for worldly things. In the past, a child cannot afford to look directly into the eyes of his father or mother but it is no longer the same. This is basically why we are witnessing cases of children attacking their parents,” she said.
According to the statistics, the highest number of parricides was recorded in 2017 when 14 mothers and 8 fathers were murdered, followed by 8 mothers and 11 fathers in 2018; 7 mothers and 12 fathers in 2019; 7 mothers and 4 fathers in 2020; then 2 mothers and 6 fathers in 2021.
However, the first quarter of 2022 has begun with an early surge in the number of parricides, with 4 mothers and 4 fathers already brutally murdered by their offspring.
The latest among the cases was of a 31-year-old man, Nicodemus Ignatius, who allegedly beat his 75-year-old father to death.
Nicodemus, who hails from Unguwan Bistel in Song town, Song LGA of Adamawa State, carried out the act on March 3, 2022, shortly after returning from a drinking bar.
He was said to have been arrested sometime in November 2021 for threatening to kill his father before he was released after the septuagenarian pleaded on his behalf.
His neighbours, who don’t want to be named, told newsmen that the suspect clubbed his father to death.
“Nicodemus had returned home from the bar where he usually drinks at about 8pm on that fateful day and met his late father and mother in the room and decided to... Tap Here To Keep Reading For More Details. .. Share
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