Man kills mother, attempts suicide — Police

There was an outrage in Anambra State when a 49-year-old man allegedly killed his mother in the state.

The suspect, Nnamdi Anyaji, attempted to commit suicide after allegedly killing the 68-year-old mother, Dorathy Anyaji.

The incident occurred in Amudo Village, Ekwulobia, a community in Aguata Local Government Area of the South-eastern state.

The police spokesperson in Anambra State, Tochukwu Ikenga, in a statement on Sunday, said the suspect was arrested at about 1:40 p.m. on Friday.

Mr Ikenga, a superintendent of police, did not mention when the incident happened.

The spokesperson said police operatives attached to the Ekwulobia Divisional Police Station arrested the suspect and also recovered one Axe at the scene of the killing.

“Preliminary information reveals that the squabble started when the suspect accused the deceased of being dishonest about the money realised from a cassava business,” he said.

Mr Ikenga said the suspect was currently under close monitoring to prevent him from committing suicide at the detaining facility.

He said the suspect would be charged to court after investigation.

Arrest of suspected illegal drug dealers

Mr Ikenga said that in a separate operation on Friday, police operatives attached to the Special Anti-Cultism Squad Enugu-Ukwu arrested 12 male suspected illegal drug dealers in Anambra State.

He said the suspects – aged between 20 and 29 – were arrested when the operatives raided their camp at Umuokpala Village in Orumba North Local Government Area of the state.

The police spokesperson said the raid was in response to a tip-off about the suspects’ criminal operations in the area.

He identified the arrested suspects as Ifeanyi Bernard, Emmanuel Ugwu, Thankgod Kelechi, Umeh Chidera, Aguiyi Onyeka, Onyeka Martin, and Festus Ihezie.

Others are Chibundu Nicholas, Solomon Obiefule, Chibundu Daniel, Neke Shedrack and Nwazufu Kingsley.

“They have been handed over to operatives of Nigeria Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) for necessary action,” Mr Ikenga said of the suspects.

Some sizable quantity of dried leaves suspected to be Indian hemp, illicit drugs and other implicating items were recovered from the suspects, according to the police.

Meanwhile, this is not the first time a mother would be killed by her son in Anambra State.

A 47-year-old man had, in September 2020, killed his two children and his 85-year-old mother in Anambra State.

Prohibited in Nigeria

Murder is outlawed in section 315 (6) of the Nigeria Criminal Code Act.

Offenders, on conviction, face a death sentence, section 319 (1).

Several persons have been sentenced to death for murder across the country.

An Aiyetoro High Court in Ogun State, for instance, sentenced a man, Adelake Bara, to death by hanging in June 2022 for shooting and killing one Olaleye Oke.

A high court in Lokoja, Kogi State, in January 2022, also sentenced a man, Muritala Dare, to death by hanging for stabbing his colleague to death with a broken bottle.

Similarly, illegal dealing and possession of hard drugs are outlawed in various laws in Nigeria, including the NDLEA Act (2004), the Dangerous Act (2004) and the Indian Hemp Act (2004).

Section 19 of the NDLEA Act, for instance, prescribes punishment for drug-related

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Offences range from 15 to 25 years’ imprisonment, depending on the type of drugs involved.

Some Nigerians have been convicted for drug-related offences.

In 2013, for instance, the Federal High Court 2 in Jos sentenced a 23-year-old mechanic, Bashir Atiku, to three months imprisonment over illegal possession of Indian hemp.