One Mr Christopher has been arrested in Edo State by men of the Nigeria Police over the alleged killing of his wife.
Reports gathered that the 45-year-old man pounced on his wife, Mrs Isoken Christopher after she refused him a loan of ₦2000.
The Nation reported that the eldest’s son of the suspect, Augustine described his father as a chain smoker and drunkard. Christopher reportedly beat to death his wife who is said to be a businesswoman to death at their home located at No. 1, Agbontaen Street beside Ebvareke Secondary School, off Agboniro Street, Uselu, Benin, the Edo State capital on Saturday night, June 26.
Speaking on the incident, Augustine (the suspect’s eldest child) who is just thirteen years of age, said his father who works for a waste disposal company in Benin city, has over the years formed the habit of physically assaulting their mother, a fashion items dealer, at the slightest provocation.
According to Augustine, his father called their mother on phone to demand N2,000 loans and started beating the deceased as he returned home around 9 pm when the money was not quickly given to him.
He said: “I tried to give my mother paracetamol and drinking water after the initial beating but my father threw them away. She then went to bathe after which she lied down outside to rest a little before coming inside to sleep but my father locked us inside the room and resumed the beating of my weak mother outside.
“Neighbours later helped us (the three children) to open the door, only to see our dead mother on the ground. She was then rushed to two different hospitals in the neighbourhood where she was confirmed dead,” he said
Confirming the incident, the spokesperson of the state police command, Bello Kotongs, said the suspect had been detained at the Textile Mill Police Station, Benin from where he would be transferred on Monday, June 28 to the state Police Headquarters at the Government Reservation Area (GRA) for further investigation.
“The man (Christopher) asked his wife to loan him some money (N2,000) out of the money she made at a burial she earlier attended on Saturday. When she refused, he then beat her to death,” Kotongs said.
