Man beats wife to death over N2,000

A 45-year-old man identified as Christopher, on Saturday night, beat his wife to death over N2,000.

The incident happened at No. 1, Agbontaen Street, beside Ebvareke Secondary School, off Agboniro Street, Uselu, Benin City.

The man was said to have pounced on his wife, Mrs. Isoken Christopher, following her failure to give him the N2,000 loan he requested from her.

The eldest child of the deceased, Augustine Christopher, said his mother was hale and hearty before the sad incident.

The 13-year old boy explained that his father, who is a menial worker with a waste manager in Benin, always beats his mother at the slightest provocation.

According to him, the event that led to his mother’s death started with a phone call from his father to his mother when he requested N2,000.

“Following the call, my father came home at about 9:00p.m. and started beating and accused her of always embarrassing him each time he requested money.

“After the beating, I was trying to give my mother a paracetamol tablet and a glass of water she asked for when my father forcefully collected the water and drug from me and threw them away.

“It was after that she went out to pour water on her body and later lie down outside.

“My father locked us (children) inside the room and went out to pounce on my mother where she was lying down outside, already weak from the beating.

“That was when neighbours came and rushed her to two different hospitals where she was pronounced dead on arrival,” he explained.

The young boy said his father smokes and was always drunk.

A neighbour to the deceased, Mrs. Florence Obahiagbon, said it was the noise from the beating that attracted their attention.

“On getting outside, we met the man beating his wife and we tried to revive her by pouring water on her because she was too weak.

“We rushed her to two hospitals within the neighbourhood where they both said she was dead on arrival.”