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Killer Children On The Prowl, Murdered 88 Parents In 6yrs

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4 years ago

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No fewer than 88 fathers and mothers have been murdered 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 death.

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.

Why killings persist

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.

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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 lock both of them in.

“But the 75-year-old Ignatius, sensing danger and afraid of the possibility of his son setting the house on fire, jumped through the window to escape.

“Unknown to him, his son armed himself with a stick. The suspect pounced on his father and hit him with the stick and broke his head, resulting in his untimely death,” one of the neighbours said.

But after taking the life of his father, the suspect, while confessing to the crime, blamed his action on the influence of Indian Hemp.

“I smoked Indian hemp on that fateful day… I bitterly regret my action,” he had said.

The Adamawa State Police Public Relations Officer, Suleiman Nguroje, confirmed the incident, saying the suspect would be charged to court upon completion of the investigation and cautioned the public to desist from taking the law into their hands.

Another famous case of matricide was when Garba Abubakar from Akko LGA of Gombe State allegedly strangled his biological mother to death.

Parading the suspect, the Commissioner of Police, Ishola Babaita, said Garba allegedly murdered his mother because she always warned him against excessive intake of hard drugs.

The CP said that Garba’s act was based on indiscriminate use of outlawed substances, and the matter is being investigated.

“The suspect strangled his mother and as a result, she fell down and became unconscious because she normally advises him to stop taking hard drugs.

“The victim was rushed to the General Hospital Kumo where she was confirmed dead by a medical doctor,” he said.

Babaita regretted that, “sadly, the woman was murdered by her own son. That is the effect of drug.”

He advised parents to pay more attention to their children, and make sure they do not consume or become addicted to hard drugs.

Girls on the rampage too

It’s quite unusual to find a girl killing her parents, especially in an African setting.  Therefore, the gruesome murder of one Eka Ime by her daughter, Mary Imewe, was a shock that gripped residents of Umoh Obot Street, off Nto Akpan Inyang in the Ikot-Ikpene Local Government Area of Akwa Ibom State.

It was gathered that the killer daughter murdered her mother and dismembered her before she was apprehended.

Angry youths of the community, who were irked by the bizarre manner in which Mary allegedly murdered her mother, compelled her to pack the body parts into a basin and was paraded round the community.

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According to a source, when the police came to arrest Mary, she stated that she did not care about her arrest and detention.

“I don’t care if I am arrested and detained by the police,” the suspect was quoted to have said before being bundled into a waiting police van.

The command’s Public Relations Officer, Odiko Macdon, who confirmed the incident, said he was surprised that a daughter could commit such a dastardly act against her mother.

He said no right-thinking person would slaughter her mother in such a gruesome manner, adding that the police would conduct a test to ascertain her state of mind before she would be charged.

“The story is true; she butchered her mum. We are suspecting that she is not of a sound mind, but we do not have any medical capacity yet to say so.

“Medical personnel will have to determine if she is of a sound mind or not, because no right-thinking person will kill her mother by butchering her.

“As we speak, we have her in our custody. We have gathered the parts of her mother and deposited them in the mortuary.

“By the time we ascertain her state of mind, we will charge her accordingly. The test will determine the extent of her culpability in the crime,” he said.

In another case in 2017, a 20-year-old man, Adamu Mai-Bisco, hacked his father, mother and two sisters to death at Batayya ward in Potiskum town, Yobe State.

Confirming the incident, the Police Public Relations Officer, ASP Toyin Gbadegesin, said the suspect used a shovel to kill all four members of his family.

Gbadegesin also attributed the action of the suspect to be under the influence of hard drugs.

One of their neighbours, who doesn’t want to be named, said the parents had threatened to report their son to security agents for allegedly being a member of Boko Haram, hence his action against them.

“He didn’t take that threat lightly and so decided to kill them while they were all asleep,” a source informed.

Eye witness, Malam Ibrahim, told our correspondent that “Ado as the suspect was fondly called by his late mother came out of the house with a shovel and jackknife and said he had wiped out his family.

“He told me ‘na gama da su’ meaning ‘l have finished them.’ I asked what he meant by that, and he started chasing me with the knife. He was intercepted by good Samaritans, and handed over to the police around 1am,” he had said then.

The family members killed were his father Malam Magaji Mai-Bisco, 65; Mother, Mama Ado, 50; sisters Aisha, 16; and Zainab,14.

While these are some of the cases reported by the media, others were not reported or deliberately covered by the family to avoid embarrassment.

Experts speak menace, way out

A psychologist, Dr Mahmud Sarki, said moral degradation, depression and drugs abuse were responsible for all the parricidal cases happening in society now.

“In a situation where parents do not take responsibility for feeding, accommodating, schooling and other welfare needs of the children, the parents are provoking the children and this may likely happen.

“Once a child becomes depressed, anything can happen, he can kill. Coupled with this is the peer group, which is more powerful than the parents.

“They influence these children to engage in drugs abuse, by telling them that it will take their minds off depression and convince them that their parents are well-to-do but don’t take care of them.

“So, by the time he gets intoxicated with drugs, he will kill the parents without remorse because he’s been made to hate them,” he said.

Sarki said if research can be conducted to generate data, of the parricide cases recorded in Nigeria within three months, North West alone has more than eight cases.

“So long as parents continue giving birth to children they cannot cater for, the problem will persist,”

When asked to proffer solutions, he said, “The solutions must be multifaceted; which include public enlightenment through parents and community leaders, youth empowerment, because without employment one cannot predict what the youth can do.”

He attributed the root cause of the problem to a relationship between unemployment, anxiety and depression.

“In this, we have problem focus coping strategy, emotion focus coping strategy and avoidance focus strategy.

“Unfortunately, our youth are taking avoidance, to avoid the consequences and the impact, so they end up abusing drugs to reduce tension, and become addicts in the long run.

“There must be interventions from parents, community, government through empowerment programmes and public enlightenment programmes,” he added.

Also speaking on the issues, Maryam Abdullahi, who is a marriage counsellor, notes that the structure of today’s family is faulty as most parents do not have that bonding time with children anymore.

“We have unfortunately found ourselves in a pathetic scenario, where all the parents care for now is money. They feel fulfilled that as long as they can provide the material needs of their children, all is well.

“Ironically, that is even more dangerous because at the end these children turn to friends and people outside the family for love and confidentiality.

“We have a situation where both parents are out all day working and the children are left to cater for themselves or left with nannies who introduce some of this stuff to the children.”

Hajiya Maryam notes that the family plays a major role in how children turn out to be in their adult life.

“Parents need to begin to be part of their children’s life. Most parents do not know what their children are engaged in on social media or who their friends are.

“The family plays a major role in curbing some of the ills in the society today, especially when it comes to drug abuse and it is likes,” she said.

DAILY TRUST

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State Police Reform: FG Invites Nigerians to Submit Policy Proposals as Draft Bill Nears September Deadline

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21 hours ago

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August 4, 2026

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State Police Reform: FG Invites Nigerians to Submit Policy Proposals as Draft Bill Nears September Deadline
Femi Gbajabiamila, Chief of Staff to the President and Chairman of the Presidential Working Group on the National Policing Bill

State Police Reform: FG Invites Nigerians to Submit Policy Proposals as Draft Bill Nears September Deadline

The Presidential Working Group on State Policing has opened a two-week public submission window for memoranda and policy proposals, setting the stage for a landmark legal framework that could redefine security architecture across Nigeria.

The Federal Government has officially called on Nigerians at home and in the diaspora, civil society organisations, security agencies, academics, professional bodies, and sub-national governments to contribute to the drafting of the proposed National Policing Bill, which seeks to establish a legal and operational framework for state police in Nigeria. The call was made public on Monday by Femi Gbajabiamila, Chief of Staff to the President and Chairman of the Presidential Working Group on the National Policing Bill, following a high-level meeting at the State House, Abuja. The announcement was contained in a statement issued by the Presidential spokesperson, Bayo Onanuga, who confirmed that all submissions will be reviewed and integrated into the draft bill, which will then be subject to further national consultation before being finalised and sent to the National Assembly. The development comes weeks after the National Assembly passed the bill following its transmission by President Bola Tinubu, signalling strong political will to actualise one of the most debated governance reforms in Nigeria’s recent history.

This public consultation exercise is critical because the Working Group is currently reviewing the Police Act 2020, the Police Service Commission framework, police regulations, and other relevant laws to develop a modern, effective, and accountable policing system. The proposed framework is expected to set national minimum standards for policing across all states, define state readiness and certification requirements before any state can operate its own police service, and clarify jurisdictional responsibilities between federal and state police forces. Additionally, the bill will ensure independent oversight and safeguard human rights, guarantee sustainable funding and financial accountability, and prevent the use of state police as a tool for political persecution – a concern earlier raised by the Attorney-General of the Federation, Lateef Fagbemi, who stressed that the legislation is designed to protect citizens from potential abuses of power at the sub-national level.

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Nigerians have until August 13, 2026, to submit their memoranda and policy proposals through the dedicated portal at www.nationalpolicingbill.com, marking the close of a two-week submission window. The Presidential Working Group has adopted a seven-week, milestone-driven work programme running from July 27 to September 14, 2026, with the draft Executive Bill scheduled for presentation to President Bola Tinubu on September 3, 2026. Following this, national consultations will be held on the completed draft before it is finalised and transmitted to the National Assembly. All Nigerians, including professionals, academics, security experts, state and local governments, and civil society groups, are encouraged to participate in this historic policy-shaping process.

The new policing framework will impose strict operational readiness requirements on any state seeking to establish its own police service. According to Gbajabiamila, a proposed State Police Service must demonstrate credible arrangements in recruitment and vetting processes, training and capacity development, pay, pensions and welfare, equipment and logistics, custody and detention standards, complaints and discipline mechanisms, data management and reporting, firearms control and regulation, independent oversight bodies, and financial sustainability plans before it begins policing. These stringent criteria are designed to ensure that only states with the institutional capacity and financial resilience can operate their own police forces, thereby preventing a patchwork of poorly equipped or unaccountable state-level security services.

The Nigeria Governors’ Forum, represented by Ogun State Governor Dapo Abiodun, has described the state police initiative as one of the defining reforms of President Tinubu’s administration, expressing the forum’s commitment to ensuring the success of the policy. The Working Group is also considering recommending federal grants to assist states with limited financial capacity in establishing their police services, acknowledging the fiscal disparities among the 36 states. States that are not yet ready to establish their own service will continue to rely on the Nigeria Police Force until they meet the required standards, ensuring that no state is left without adequate security coverage during the transition period.

The final submission to the President will go beyond a conventional bill and is expected to include schedules and explanatory memoranda, a legal audit of existing policing laws, a state readiness framework, a fiscal and implementation note, and a risk register with transition arrangements. This comprehensive approach is designed to ensure that the reform is defensible, auditable, and capable of implementation across Nigeria’s diverse states, addressing everything from constitutional alignment to practical logistics on the ground.

The government has emphasised that this is a people-driven process, and by inviting input from all segments of society – including ordinary citizens, diaspora communities, and professional bodies – the Working Group aims to build a policing system that reflects the aspirations and realities of all Nigerians. As a senior official close to the Working Group noted, this is not just a government bill but a national project in which every Nigerian has a stake in how they are policed. Interested individuals and organisations are encouraged to visit www.nationalpolicingbill.com before August 13, 2026, to submit their memoranda and policy proposals, with all submissions to be reviewed and incorporated into the draft bill ahead of further national consultations.

State Police Reform: FG Invites Nigerians to Submit Policy Proposals as Draft Bill Nears September Deadline

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Biafra Civil War: Gowon says Igbo bank depositors were fully paid, defends Awolowo over £20 policy

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22 hours ago

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August 4, 2026

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Biafra Civil War: Gowon says Igbo bank depositors were fully paid, defends Awolowo over £20 policy
Yakubu Gowon and Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu

Biafra Civil War: Gowon says Igbo bank depositors were fully paid, defends Awolowo over £20 policy

Former Nigerian Head of State, General Yakubu Gowon (retd.), has defended the late Chief Obafemi Awolowo against long-standing criticism over the controversial post-civil war £20 policy, saying the decision was taken collectively by the Federal Government and was not Awolowo’s personal policy.

Gowon also stated that people from the former Biafran territory who could provide evidence that they had money in Nigerian banks before or during the Nigerian Civil War received the full value of their deposits, including accrued interest.

The former Head of State made the clarification in his memoir, My Life of Duty and Allegiance, where he revisited the circumstances surrounding the currency policy introduced after the end of the civil war in January 1970.

The £20 policy has remained a subject of public debate for decades, with critics accusing Awolowo, who served as Federal Commissioner for Finance during the war, of restricting people from the former Biafran territory to a flat payment of £20, regardless of the amount they had held before the conflict.

However, Gowon said Awolowo had been unfairly blamed for a policy that was approved by the Federal Government after consultations and consideration of the economic challenges facing Nigeria at the end of the war.

According to Gowon, the Central Bank of Nigeria established a panel to examine the possible consequences of converting the Biafran pound into Nigerian currency.

He explained that the exercise was difficult because the Biafran currency was not recognised by the Federal Government as legal tender during the war.

Gowon said the large volume of Biafran currency in circulation also created concerns that exchanging all the notes at the same value as the Nigerian pound could have caused serious economic disruption.

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Economic advisers subsequently recommended that the Federal Government provide a uniform payment of about £20 to each adult from the former Biafran territory, regardless of the quantity of Biafran currency presented.

“We agreed to the proposal and made it our official policy,” Gowon wrote, adding that the government faced major difficulties in determining the volume of Biafran currency in circulation and establishing a practical basis for converting it.

He maintained that the decision was made by the Federal Government and should not be attributed solely to Awolowo.

Gowon further stated that people who had left Nigeria but could provide proof that they held funds in Nigerian banks received the full value of their deposits, including interest, in Nigerian currency.

“Everyone who left Nigeria but had proof that they had money in Nigerian banks got the full amount of their money plus the interest it earned, all in Nigerian currency,” he said.

The former military leader argued that adopting a different approach could have created significant economic and administrative challenges during Nigeria’s post-war recovery.

The Nigerian Civil War, also known as the Biafra War, began in 1967 and ended in January 1970 following the surrender of Biafran forces.

After the war, Gowon declared a policy of “no victor, no vanquished” and introduced the Reconciliation, Reconstruction and Rehabilitation programme, widely known as the 3Rs.

The programme was designed to promote national unity, rebuild war-affected communities and support the reintegration of the former Eastern Region into Nigeria.

Despite the government’s post-war reconciliation agenda, the £20 policy remains one of the most debated aspects of Nigeria’s post-civil war history.

Critics have argued that the policy caused financial hardship for many people in the former Biafran territory, particularly those who lost access to savings, could not provide documentation for their bank deposits or were unable to recover the value of assets affected by the war.

Some historians and commentators have also questioned whether the post-war reconstruction and rehabilitation programmes adequately addressed the economic losses and long-term effects experienced by communities affected by the conflict.

Gowon’s account has renewed public discussion about the Biafra Civil War, the post-war currency policy and Awolowo’s role in the Federal Military Government.

While Gowon maintains that verified Nigerian bank deposits were fully repaid with interest and that Awolowo should not be held personally responsible for the £20 policy, the issue continues to generate debate over post-war justice, economic recovery, historical memory and national reconciliation.

Biafra Civil War: Gowon says Igbo bank depositors were fully paid, defends Awolowo over £20 policy

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How 15-year-old allegedly staged his own kidnapping to extort N200,000 from father

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22 hours ago

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August 4, 2026

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How 15-year-old allegedly staged his own kidnapping to extort N200,000 from father

How 15-year-old allegedly staged his own kidnapping to extort N200,000 from father

The Niger State Police Command has arrested a 15-year-old boy who allegedly staged his own kidnapping in an attempt to extort N200,000 from his father in Suleja.

The teenager was arrested alongside a 17-year-old alleged accomplice after police traced him to a hotel in Suleja, days after his family reported him missing.

The spokesperson for the Niger State Police Command, SP Wasiu Abiodun, disclosed the development in a statement issued on Monday.

According to the police, the 15-year-old left home after attending church on July 20, 2026, but failed to return, prompting concern among his family members.

The following day, the family reportedly received a telephone call from someone who claimed that the teenager had been kidnapped and demanded a ransom of N200,000 for his release.

The matter was subsequently reported at the B Division of the Nigeria Police Force in Suleja, leading to the launch of an investigation.

Police detectives reportedly acted on credible intelligence and traced the teenager to a hotel in Suleja on July 25, where he was found with the 17-year-old.

“On receipt of the information, police operatives of the division commenced an investigation and, acting on credible intelligence, the said Kelvin was found at a hotel in Suleja on July 25, 2026, with his accomplice,” the police spokesperson said.

According to the command, the two teenagers allegedly confessed during questioning that they planned the incident to obtain N200,000 from the boy’s father.

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The police said the money was to be shared between them after the ransom had been paid.

“The suspects confessed that they planned to extort the sum of N200,000 from Kelvin’s father, after which they would share the proceeds of the crime,” Abiodun said.

The police said the alleged plan was uncovered before the family paid the requested ransom.

Both teenagers are currently in the custody of the State Criminal Investigation Department, SCID, in Minna, where further investigations are ongoing.

The command said the suspects would be taken through the appropriate legal process after the investigation had been concluded.

The incident has renewed concerns over staged kidnapping, particularly the emotional and financial impact such incidents can have on families.

Security experts have repeatedly warned that fake kidnapping claims can cause panic, place families under severe emotional pressure and divert police resources from genuine cases involving missing or abducted persons.

The case also highlights the importance of reporting suspected kidnappings promptly to security agencies and allowing investigators to handle ransom demands and related threats.

Residents have been encouraged to provide timely and credible information that could help security agencies prevent crime and respond quickly to reports involving missing persons.

The Niger State Police Command said investigations into the alleged self-kidnapping plot were continuing.

How 15-year-old allegedly staged his own kidnapping to extort N200,000 from father

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