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.
Read More: https://dailytrust.com/killer-children-on-the-prowl-murdered-88-parents-in-6yrs
