Tragedy
struck on Majente Street, in Akute, Ogun State, when Ekene, the younger brother
of 25-year-old Kenneth Chikwado Agbamone stabbed him to death following an
altercation about washing dirty plates, according to Sunnewsonline.
Kenneth
and Ekene had a heated argument because the younger one failed to wash dirty
plates the family ate with earlier in the evening.
Trouble
began when Kenneth returned from a church service that fateful night of July
14, 2015, at 9pm, and promptly observed that his younger brother, Ekene did
not wash the dirty plates stacked in the kitchen.
Incidentally, the church where Kenneth was a member had declared a
one-day fasting and prayer programme, which he participated in, and went to
church later in the day for the normal congregational prayer to end the
fasting.
Before
leaving for the church service, he had cooked rice, and served his mother, who
was roasting and selling corn in the street, where the family lives. So
returning from the church service and seeing that Ekene did not wash the dirty
dishes, he got angry and demanded that the younger brother should promptly wash
the plates. Ekene allegedly refused to do so. This resulted in a heated
argument between them. At some point, Kenneth, it was said, drew his belt and
hit Ekene twice and left the house to buy sachet water.
However,
doom awaited him at home. Ekene was still seething with rage. He was said to
have taken a knife from the kitchen, held it behind his back and hid behind the
door, waiting for Kenneth to return. The moment Kenneth walked through the
door, Ekene stabbed him on the left side of his chest. Meanwhile, their mother,
Cynthia, was taking her bath at the time. As she came into the house from the
bathroom, Cynthia found her son on the ground in a pool of his blood. It was
her prolonged scream of anguish that rented the air and attracted neighbours,
who rushed in to find out what was wrong in the Agbamone home.
Soon word
of the death of Kenneth spread fast in the neighbourhood and people trooped
into the street to behold Kenneth’s body that was laid in the middle of the
street before it was taken to the hospital.
At the
hospital, a drama played out as the medical facility refused to handle the
case, claiming that it was only a maternity clinic and ill-equipped for the
emergency. However, the doctor in-charge briefly examined the victim and noted
that he had been stabbed and was brought in lifeless.
Sunday Sun
gathered from a neighbour of the Agbamone’s that Ekene was said to have fainted
when some men wrestled him to the ground, to prevent him from running away.
After he passed out, they left him near the drainage. But when he regained
consciousness, he still looked dazed, not knowing where he was or how he got
there. When he was told that he stabbed Kenneth in the chest, and that he had
been taken to the clinic, he seemed horrified and ran to the clinic, where he
learnt that his elder brother had died from the fatal injuries caused by the
stabbing.
The source
further disclosed that it was the clinic that alerted the nearest police
station after confirming that the victim was dead, and requested that a team be
dispatched to investigate the matter. But a police officer at the station was
said to have retorted that the available patrol van had no fuel in it. This
response, Sunday Sun gathered, prompted the doctor to go in person to the
station to file a report, but he was allegedly beaten by the police. Moreover,
a female auxiliary nurse attached to the clinic was similarly beaten, while
one of the male staff was detained at the station overnight. However, all
attempts to speak to the doctor in charge of the maternity clinic proved
abortive.
A female
member of the church where Kenneth belonged, who happens to be familiar with
the family blamed his mother for the unfortunate incident, arguing that she
had laid the foundation for the tragic incident because of the bad way she
raised Ekene, the second son and youngest child, who she claimed was
over-pampered.
Her words:
“Kenneth was the one that would clean and arrange the house, fetch water,
sweep, and do everything even though he had younger siblings, who didn’t do any
domestic chores. They would just leave everything for him to do. If the mother
had cautioned the younger brother, I don’t think this incident would have
happened. This is a big lesson for all parents to love all their children
equally. The siblings never did anything, even the neighbours would testify to
this. I heard the mother crying that she can’t live without Kenneth, who was
like a woman at home.”
One of the
residents in the area told Sunday Sun that Ekene was allegedly known to smoke
Indian hemp and run around with touts in the neighbourhood. As at the time of
filing this report, the whereabouts of the father of the children, could not be
established as he was said not to be living with the family in Ogun State. A
neighbour said of him, “He is not around, he doesn’t live here.”
Other
neighbours said that Kenneth was a young man who loved preaching the word of
God to people in the streets. Hours before his death, he was said to have
preached to two young men smoking cigarettes and urged them to receive Christ
as their saviour.
A friend
of his, Lanre, who owns a barbing salon, also revealed that late Kenneth had
prayed hard for a job. He disclosed that on the day of his death, Kenneth had
gotten two calls from two separate places, where he was invited to take up
employment as a barber and hairstylist. According to him, Kenneth knew how to
cut hair but was reluctant to work for people because it didn’t bring in
enough. He wanted to start up his own business so he could take care of
himself.
Lanre
further said: “Kenneth believed in God. He had great faith. When he saw girls
around me, he always advised them not to go after men, and to dress decently.
He was a brilliant man; his spoken English was sound, so I got close to him. He
regularly came to my salon to give people haircuts, and any money he made, he
would give me to support my shop.”
Kenneth
was the first of his mother’s three children. He had a younger sister, Ogechi,
and Ekene, the alleged culprit, who is now at large. All efforts made to speak
with the bereaved mother of Kenneth were unsuccessful.
The
deceased was described by friends, church members and neighbours as “a loving,
gentle and easy going fellow who never wore a frown on his face despite his
circumstances.”
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