A 38-year-old man identified as Matthew Ifeanyichukwu Onadike who was recently arrested for macheting his octogenarian father, Pa Anthony Onadike, to death, has said that he carried out the act to satisfy his father’s request.

Matthew who was apprehended by the Ogun State Community, Social Orientation and Safety Corps, codenamed So-Safe, and handed over to Sango divisional headquarters of Ogun State Police Command, said his father had told him severally that he wanted peace of mind, which he interpreted to mean the old man asking to be killed.

So-Safe Corps, in a statement, had disclosed how its officers were called and informed of the suspect killing his biological father, Pa Onadike, by inflicting several machete cuts on his head. Though the octogenarian was rushed to a hospital, the doctor who attended to him on arrival at the hospital confirmed him dead.

Matthew was said to have resisted arrest but was eventually subdued and taken into custody. During preliminary investigation, he claimed that it was his father’s refusal to give him the N70,000 he kept with him since 2022 that made him commit the murder.

He said his parents advised him to quit his job. However, after quitting his job, his parents refused to cater for him.

“I was working in a company at Ajao Estate. However, problem arose when my parents asked me to leave the job and come back home. In August 2021, my father came to where I was living in Oshodi, Lagos. He told me to give him rest by coming home.

I was very angry because I didn’t understand why he wanted me to kill him. He ran as I pursued him to leave my room. I stopped going to our family’s residence in Sango, Ogun State, and whenever I was in that area, I avoided my father. If I saw him, I would take another way. I was seeing my mother only.

One day, I came to see my mother and she told me to do my father’s bid. After some time, my father called my office and I observed some changes. In September 2021, my landlady also told me not to pay house rent again, asking me to move out. I was not owing the landlady any money but there used to be quarrels between me and other tenants. I lived in that house in Oshodi for eight years.

My work place also started reducing the salary I was being paid. When I observed all the changes, I called my father and told him what I was experiencing. He said he had told me to pack my belongings and return home. My brother came and assisted me in packing on December 31 that year. My father was not around when I got to our house, and when he came in, we hugged each other. He reminded me of what he discussed with me and we almost quarreled again.

In January 2022, I gave my father N20,000 to keep for me. In August, I gave him another N50,000. I also kept N20,000 with my mother. By then, I had stopped working. I was so stressed but my father kept telling me that I should do what he asked me to do to him.

In November 2022, I asked my father to give me the money with him for me to start selling robber footwear but he denied having my money. In January this year, I noticed that he truly wanted me to kill him. One day, I called my mother to discuss the negative trend in our family. My elder brother had died.

She told me that she knew of my father’s request, saying that was why he didn’t want to give me my money, as an act of provocation. Later, she also denied my giving the money to my father. I was tired of sitting at home. I went to a bakery to work but my mother told the business owner to sack me. She said I should just be at home, saying that she would be taking care of my needs.

By then, I was under pressure. I was not allowed to work, and when I asked for money, I was not given. I fought with my father and seriously injured him. However, he said that injuring him was not enough as he wanted me to kill him. I went to Sango police station to report what was happening. I stood outside and told police officers in a loud voice that my father wanted me to kill him. They didn’t let me in but brought me to Eleweran in Abeokuta. I went back home when we didn’t see the person the police brought me to.

On August 28, I was in my room with the plantain I went to cut in our backyard farm. I wanted to sell it and use the money to feed. Unfortunately, I didn’t get any buyer. When I asked my mother for money to eat, she gave me N700. My father came home and saw that I had cut two bunches of plantain. He asked me why I did so without informing him. He threatened to pick a cutlass and cut down all the plantain trees. He said I should kill him like he had been telling me.

We dragged the issue as I held him, but I later went to my room.

While I was there, my father started banging on the door of my room, shouting that I should come out and kill him. That was when I picked the cutlass I used in cutting the plantain and started inflicting machete cuts on his head. People around heard what was happening and rushed to our house. I locked the backyard door when the community people asked me to come out. When they insisted, I went out to meet them. That was how So Safe officers were called and I was arrested.”

The Ogun state police command say the suspect will be arraigned in court as soon as investigation is completed.

Security has been beefed up at the Roseline Omotosho Courthouse, Ikeja, as the Lagos State Election Petitions Tribunal is set to deliver judgement in petitions challenging the election of Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu.

The Peoples Democratic Party governorship candidate for the state in the March 18 poll, Abdulazeez Adediran, also known as Jandor, and his Labour Party counterpart, Mr. Gbadebo Rhodes-Vivour, filed the petitions.

Security operatives took over the main entrance of the courthouse, screening journalists, lawyers and others before they could gain entrance.

Securing operatives prevented a number of people from entering the premises.

Adediran, in his petition, alleged that the governor presented a forged West African School Certificate to the Independent National Electoral Commission.

Adediran also accused Lagos deputy governor, Kadri Hazmat, of not including an oath declaration in the INEC Nomination Form EC9.

He added that APC did not comply with the Electoral Act when nominating Sanwo-Olu and Hamzat.

Rhodes-Vivour, in his petition, also challenged the eligibility of Hazmat to contest on the grounds that he allegedly renounced his Nigerian citizenship and swore allegiance to the United States of America.

NAN

A section of the Supreme Court complex in the Three Arms Zone, Abuja, has been gutted by fire on Monday morning.

JomogNews reports that the cause of the fire on the nation’s apex court in Abuja is unknown as of the time of filing this report.

The fire, which started around 7am, caused panic among staff members of the court who scampered to safety.

Though no human casualty was recorded, however, it was not clear whether sensitive documents and files were destroyed by the early morning fire.

The offices of three Justices have allegedly been burnt down, including that of Justice Mohammed Saulawa before it was eventually put off.

NAN reports that the Director of Press and Information of the Supreme Court of Nigeria, Dr Festus Akande, confirmed the fire.

“The fire has since been put out. There was no casualty,” Akande said.

Meanwhile, JomogNews also learnt that the Federal Fire Service operatives have put out the fire, and everything has returned to normal.

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