A woman simply identified as Blessing in Obuno Umuochefu, Igbo-Ukwu, in Aguata LGA of Anambra state, has been held by the police for allegedly killing four children on January 15.
Reports say the four children, Chukwuebuka (13), Chukwumelum (6), Obumneme (3) and 15-month-old Chinenyenwa, were strangled by the suspect.
In an odd twist, the woman reportedly sat beside the children’s corpses and waited for their parents to return after perpetrating the crime.
Ogechukwu Okonkwo, the children’s father is said to be Blessing’s lover.
The woman, who was not remorseful over her action, physically assaulted the late children’s mother when she arrived enquiring about her children.
While narrating the incident, Nwanneka Okonkwo, the children’s mother who is currently receiving medical attention at the Ekwulumili Health Centre, Anambra, said her first son was found inside an underground tank in the compound.
She said, “I was to go for a burial ceremony with my husband at Ukpor on that fateful day and the children went to school.
“We had stayed barely one hour at the burial ceremony when my husband said we should go home. But before we left, my husband’s phone rang and I heard him say, ‘I’m in a burial’. So, as we got close to our home, his phone rang again and he told the caller that we were not back yet. I didn’t ask him who the caller was as we rode straight to the house.”
She narrated that on arriving the house, they found that the underground tank which they rarely use, was opened.
She continued narrating the incident saying, “I became apprehensive because we don’t keep it open. I called Ebuka but there was no response. I ran into the sitting room and saw the three younger ones lying on the floor as if they were asleep.”
The children were discovered dead after Okonkwo tried waking them up to “ascertain the whereabouts of their brother”
She reportedly said she saw signs of human nails on their necks which signified they must have been strangled.
“One of them had faeces in his anus,” she disclosed.
“I cried to my husband that the children were dead and I concluded that since the three were dead, Ebuka might be inside the well. My husband started crying and moved towards our bedroom.”
She said she saw her husband’s mistress emerge and asked her where her first son, Ebuka’s body is.
“I advanced towards her and demanded where she kept Ebuka’s body because I had seen the others she killed. I held her and she gripped me. When I freed myself from her grip, I rushed to lock one of the two gates and raised the alarm until neighbours came.” Okonkwo concluded.
The intervention of the local vigilante group prevented the suspect from being lynched by the youth of the community.
Confirming the tragic incident, the Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO) in Anambra State, Emeka Chukwuemeka, stated that the State’s Criminal Investigation Department was looking into the case.