45-year-old man simply identified as Christopher, has been arrested by the police for allegedly beating his wife, Mrs. Isoken Christopher, to death for allegedly refusing to offer him N2,000 loan.
The suspect, who is described as a chain smoker and drunk by the eldest of his three children, beat the 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.
According to The Nation, 13-year-old Augustine 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.
The teenager said his father called their mother on phone to demand N2, 000 loan and started beating the deceased as he returned home around 9 pm when the money was not quickly given to him.
“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.
The spokesperson of the state police command, Bello Kotongs, who confirming the incident 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.