Concerns Over Rising Number Of Children Killing Their Parents

Families in Delta State are facing troubling times as the alarming trend of children killing their parents becomes increasingly prevalent. This heinous crime, among the most reprehensible globally, is now occurring more frequently within the state.

Reports reveal that some perpetrators have targeted their fathers, while others have turned against their mothers, and in some cases, both parents have fallen victim. Many incidents remain unreported, often resolved locally due to fear of repercussions or other influencing factors.

As LEADERSHIP Weekend explore this disturbing trend, it becomes essential to understand the factors contributing to such extreme behaviour and to consider potential preventive measures to safeguard both children and families.

This is because , addressing this issue requires a multifaceted approach, encompassing psychological support, community awareness, and effective intervention strategies.

On July 10, 2024, Delta State police arrested a 23-year-old man named Samson for fatally stabbing his mother, a quinquagenarian in her 50s, in Obiaruku.

Sources indicate that after completing secondary school, Samson was sent to Asaba to learn a trade but was returned home a few months later due to his involvement with a group of boys engaged in drug activities, which reportedly affected his mental health. Upon his return to Obiaruku, his mother sought treatment for him at a local native mental health facility.

An anonymous eyewitness recounted the incident, stating, “They live on Jehovah Street, Obiedike Obiaruku, near my shop. The mother is in her 50s, likely not yet 60.

At around 5 a.m., she stepped outside and found her son, Samson, smoking. She confronted him, possibly raising her voice, prompting Samson to go inside and return with a knife, which he used to stab her. It was the elder brother, a sickle cell patient, who shouted for help, drawing attention since the compound gate was still locked at that time.”

Other neighborhood residents noted that Samson had struggled with drug addiction since returning from Asaba. They also reported that police arrived to arrest Samson while he was near his mother’s body.

When contacted, SP spokesman for the Delta State Police Command, SP Bright Edafe, confirmed that a suspect has been arrested.

The most recent incident involves a 25-year-old man, identified as Emmanuel, who was apprehended by police operatives in Sapele for brutally hacking his 53-year-old mother, Mrs. Fatima Umukoro, a school proprietress of His Majesty Group of Schools in Sapele, to death.

LEADERSHIP Weekend gathered that Emmanuel has been grappling with mental health issues stemming from substance abuse.

A church pastor, who requested anonymity due to the fact that he is a close friend of the suspect’s father, revealed that Rev. Prince Umukoro, a pastor of a popular Pentecostal church in Sapele and owner of a private school, had previously taken Emmanuel for drug rehabilitation. Although Emmanuel showed improvement upon returning, he recently began showing signs of relapse.

The pastor recounted troubling behavior, stating that Emmanuel would often stand in front of their house in the Ugbeyiyi area, smiling for no apparent reason, and had previously attacked his mother with a cutlass, only to be stopped by his father.

On Saturday, September 6, 2024, trouble escalated when no one was home; his father had left for a burial ceremony in Imo State. During this time, Emmanuel attacked his mother with a brand-new axe, killed her, and subsequently dragged her body outside before setting it ablaze.

When our correspondent visited the police station, neighbours  gathered at the police station when Rev. Umukoro returned from his trip.

A few who spoke exclusively to our correspondent recounted the horrifying events surrounding the death of the victim, popularly called, ‘Mama Faith.’

They added that after setting her body ablaze, Emmanuel fled to Warri in his mother’s Sienna car. He was later apprehended by police at Effurun Roundabout and brought back to the Sapele Police Station.

“The woman’s body has since been deposited at Sapele Central Hospital.

The police spokeperson said this to LEADERSHIP Weekend, “You can see the pastors and neighbours milling around; what they told you is the truth. We arrested the boy and brought him back to Sapele with the vehicle at Effurun Roundabout, where he was even trying to pick up passengers. Imagine!” a source said.

When she returned home from school that fateful day, she had no idea death was lurking nearby, nor did she have any premonition of the tragedy that awaited her. In a helpless and horrifying moment, she was set ablaze while the fire raged around her.

The arrangement made by her son, Emmanuel Umukoro, 24, late at night left the neighbours in shock and bewilderment. Another source alleged he killed her for ritual purposes while under the influence of drugs. A male resident of the neighborhood, who wished to remain anonymous, shared that the entire community was thrown into mourning after the incident.

Another neighbour and passers-by  described the scene as gruesome and horrific.

According to eyewitnesses, Emmanuel was spotted driving his mother’s car out of the compound at high speed around 8:30 PM. This reckless behavior caught the attention of neighbors, who went to inform his mother. However, upon arriving at the Umukoro residence around 10 PM, they found the gate unusually left open.

Concerned, neighbours and passersby decided to investigate and discovered flames coming from inside the house with the door ajar. When they entered, they found Mrs. Umukoro’s lifeless body, burnt beyond recognition.

In a separate chilling incident on May 2, 2024, the Delta State Police Command paraded 24-year-old Sofia Nkwo for the murder of her one-year-old son. Nkwo confessed to killing her child because she felt unable to care for him after the father rejected him.

Commissioner of Police Mr. Abaniwonda Olufemi,  condemned her actions, stating, “On April 28, 2024, a case of infanticide was reported at Oleh Division, alleging that Sofia Nkwo, a resident of Isoko South LGA, dumped her son, aged one year and four months, in a well in the Araya community. Children playing nearby discovered the body floating in the well. Nkwo was promptly arrested and admitted to abandoning the child on April 26, 2024.”

Similarly, in 2023, a teenage boy attempted to use his father for ritual purposes by purchasing a bedspread cover for him. The father, suspicious of his son’s intentions, refused to use the cloth despite pressure. Eventually, he did cover his son with it while he slept, leading to the boy going mad. The son later confessed that he had intended to kill his father to acquire quick money.

These cases highlight a disturbing trend of children harming or attempting to harm their biological parents for various reasons.

Different reasons have been advanced by psychologists as to why children turn against their parents, ranging from unhealthy and unhindered access to illicit drugs, broken homes, money-making rituals, as well as irresponsibility on the part of parents.

According to a report by the National Drugs Law and Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), drug abuse is increasing in Nigeria as over 14.9 million people between the ages of 15 and 64 engage in it. It is believed that the majority of the crimes were committed under the influence of drugs. And they are majorly linked to quick money making rituals.

While drug abuse takes the front row in the reason for the crime, most of the cases were said to have been influenced by the rush for material things, leading many to consult ritual killers who convince them to sacrifice their relatives, mostly parents. Some murder their parents and trade their body parts.

A guidance counselor/psychologist, Mrs Gloria Amos, at Covenant Polytechnic. Edo State, said most of the problems were rooted in the way children were raised and the traumas they were facing in the society. He said such cases were as a result of adolescent disorder, parental style of upbringing and broken homes, grudges among families as well as oppositional defiant disorder.

“The root cause of all is how we raise our children and what we teach them to do. Fights between or among relatives while parents take sides. If we raise them in a way they don’t feel included, they will feel abandoned. And they are bound to cross boundaries and sometimes even affect their parents.

“Growing up in a broken home, strict environment or where parents don’t listen to their children, where mothers are not in the house or either mother or father is dead contributes to the crime immensely. All these have bad influence on children, making them to engage in unwholesome activities like thuggery, drug abuse and even rituals. Some parents don’t even care to feed their children, so how do you think they would have pity on them,” she said.

Some relatives of those murdered by their children who spoke with LEADERSHIP Weekend,said they were traumatised. The suspect, Emmanuel who murdered his mother said the incident had seriously affected the entire family. “The story will remain damaging to our family. I know my family members will not forgive me. I learnt they want me to be punished for killing our mum and damaging our reputation.

Gloria, the counsellor further said the only way out of the menace was for parents and the society to understand their roles in the successful upbringing of children.

“Until people understand what it takes to be a father or mother, we are bound to continue having these issues. Parents are the root here, so they should always bring their children close, listen to them, and give them all the necessary education and mentoring needed. They should show the children love so that they would love them to the level that they cannot even attempt to slap them, let alone kill,” she said.

He also said there was a need for people to unite at the community level and ensure a uniform upbringing of children. “What obtained in the olden days when every child belonged to all is what will end the problem. Unfortunately, nowadays everybody is after his child. But if you stick to your child he will eventually come out and meet the one you are portraying as a bad one. We must have unity, even if it is on proper upbringing of our children,” he added.

On how to stop the crime or at least reduce it, is worrisome some shield criminals for crimes committed in the family which only emboldens the perpetrators and gives them the opportunity to do worse in the larger society.

A Pastor with Winners Chapel, Ugbolu, Pastor Eric Ojo, also said these behaviours had to do with changes in the way people associated themselves with religions.

“People have abandoned the teachings and guidance of their religions; hence these behaviours. The Bible says train up child in the way he  should go and when he is old he will not depart from it. It teaches us how best to raise our children. However, people have abandoned the teachings. ” she said.

On his part, SP Bright Edafe, Police public relations officer, (PPRO), Delta command, For its part, the government, as captured succinctly in Section 14(2) (b) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999, has as its sole purpose the security and welfare of the people. It should therefore protect the people’s sanity and well-being by addressing the twin evils of unemployment and the proliferation of illicit drugs in our society. This is because drug users are more likely to commit crimes and engage in violence to feed their addiction and dependence.

He said the security of lives and property was the business of all, saying the command was making efforts to address the problem, using facts gotten from the suspects, the motive behind the alleged murder as case study. According to him, the suspicion led to Emmanuel’s apprehension by the Nigeria Police along Sapele-Warri Road as he attempted to escape to an unknown destination.

He faulted cases that have gone unreported because they were settled locally or at the family level, for fear of the consequences that may follow, or for other factors. The police spokesman wondered why a child who has a mental issue will be kept at home instead of a psychiatric home.

“Often times these mentally deraigned children end up killing their parents and the people who have been pampering and taking care of them,” he added.

Chairman of The Child Rights Implementation Committee, (CRIC),Mrs. Oghenekevwe Agas,  while reviewing the execution of the Delta State Child Rights Law advocated the prosecution of parents who cover-up cases of abuse of their children, or wards under their care.

She identified challenges of temporary shelter for women and children who suffered abuse, pressure by families of perpetuators and unwilling witnesses, as some of the challenges affecting the implementation of  Child Rights Law in the state.

On her part, the permanent secretary  State Ministry of Women Affairs, also listed poverty as a factor in some of the cases,

“When some of these issues are reported, you have the zeal to want to fight, but the response of the victims or their parents will dampen your spirit. I know there is provision in the law, if you prevent justice, you can be arrested.”

A legal representative from the International Federation of Women Lawyers, (IFWL), Awele Ideal, called for a law to enable the prosecution of parents who made suspicious withdrawal of charges, during key stages in the investigation of cases of child abuse or sexual assault.

“I think it is high time we couch a law to punish adults who enable these crimes. These children can’t talk for themselves.”

Theresa Atakpo, in a lecture titled: ‘The Best Interest of a Child in Child Protection’ listed child’s voice and participation, emotional and psychological support to help children who experienced abuse to cope with trauma and stress.

They frowned at the trend as an unfortunate development, calling on stakeholders to start at the family level, rise to address the nightmare with all sense of seriousness. Accordingly, the family, educational institutions, religious bodies and the government – as agents of socialisation – should understand their roles in the successful upbringing of children as responsible members of society who can be useful to themselves and to others.

Situations where mothers, for instance, will set their kids against their fathers or vice versa, or parents surrendering their guidance roles to social media, or abandoning their children who find their way to criminal gangs on the streets,  must not be allowed to continue.

Our schools should support their guidance and counselling units – and set up one where non-existent – to be able to guide the children to a bright future. With good observation in schools, deviant behaviours would be easy to notice and address before it was too late.

Religious and community leaders also have a role to play. As respected figures in their communities, they have the power to raise awareness and influence attitudes, behaviours and practises. The religious leaders must drive home the teachings of the holy books. They must never shy away from speaking the truth from the pulpits.

Furthermore, they called on sociologists and academic researchers in our universities to study the problem in-depth and proffer solutions to the government. “We need to go back to the era of our rich African heritage, where the upbringing of children was the responsibility of all, not just those who seared them.

“All hands need to be on deck to stop this menace of children killing their parents. It calls for unity of purpose because it leaves no room for any stakeholder to falter, lest we continue to count victims” they posited.