John 72, from Jesse, Warri in Delta State was discharged from the Nigeria Army in 1999 as a corporal. He has 11 children from three wives. Two of the wives and seven children are in Jesse, while he resides at 28 Adewale Street, Iba New Site, Ojo, Lagos with the youngest wife, Comfort and four children in a two-room apartment.
Last Tuesday, what started as minor family quarrel turned fatal. On that fateful evening, while Comfort, Glory and the three other children were preparing for evening church service, it was alleged that John came to the front of their compound and sat down. As his family members wanted to leave for church, it was further alleged that he blocked the entrance and said they won’t go because they lack the character of good Christians.
According to John, his daughter Glory, a secondary school student didn’t have an iota of respect for him. “Whenever I tried to counsel or advise her as a beloved father, she would make ignoble and despicable signs to show an extreme disdain and contempt she has for me. These are the things she copied from her mother.
“Some times she would go to another family’s house to sleep or she did something not of good report, when I tried to caution her, she would talk to me or demonstrate with a sign that shows an utter contempt.”
As John prevented them from going to church, he accused Glory of making the same derogatory sign to show her contempt for him. This was said to have provoked the ex-soldier who dragged Glory to their bedroom where he allegedly beat her with a nail-studded plank.
According to Comfort, her husband didn’t allow their daughter any medical assistance.
“I went and called a nurse who came and started treating her. When she was not improving, my husband took her to a hospital where she died” Comfort said.
Glory died last Sunday five days after the incident.
In an interview< John in a sober mood, wondered why he should kill his own daughter and heaped the blame on Satan.
“I am not crazy to give birth to a child and at the same time kill the child. I don’t have mother or father, my children are everything to me. So why should I kill her? My intention was to hit the plank on her back for her just to receive the pain and nothing more but it landed on her forehead.
“When my wife went and reported the matter at the police station, I didn’t wait for the police to come and arrest me. I went to the police and submitted myself to them. That will show that I didn’t have the intention of killing my dear daughter. If I meant to kill her as my wife is accusing me of, I would probably run away or went into hiding.”
On what that type of dangerous weapon was doing in his bedroom, John said that he is a security man and that was one of his tools to defend himself and attack robbers. He accused his wife of encouraging Glory the way she was misbehaving.
His wife, who by her name, should be providing comfort for him is now calling for the full weight of the law to be visited on him.culled
*it is not easy to manage stubborn children and sometimes it is better to just let them be...The rod we use in disciplining them can go wrong like in this case.
Some people say it is good to beat a child to instil discipline into them but in cases like this,the beating can go wrong.
Like i said before,i am totally against beating a child ..scolding them works...people should spend more time with their children,it always helps in handling or punishing them...beating is a no no for me.
What is your opinion of how this man handled his late child?
Most soldiers/ex soldiers are brutal.
ReplyDeleteVery wicked souls and they blame it on the harsh training they had to go through.
I'm so soft,I've never fought not beaten anyone in my life so i can't relate with "spare the rod,spoil the child" proverb.
Stella no death news again today pls.
So sad.
DeleteR.I.P to a rose plucked even before it got the chance to blossom.
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Like they say, "experience is the best teacher" I believe in talking to a child, I try to create an atmosphere that allows for us to dialogue! Make the child see reason why his/her action is not right. Instead of beating the child, I'd rather place the child under some sort of punishment. As for the teenage ones like the victim, I will simply keep talking to them, if they persist, I will let them experience it and face the consequences alike.
DeleteBible says foolishness is embedded in the heart of a child... However people take discipline to the extreme. Truth is if you keep beating a child one day they will become so used to it that you don't get any reaction. Then you lose your temper and hit your hardest and that's where the real danger is!
DeleteA nail studded plank for heaven's sakes, that's way too extreme... and now it's become a beating gone wrong... #surulere (patience is rewarding) its not everything one has to react to.. God will see him thru ds case n grant d girl eternal rest
ReplyDeleteHmmm so sad. But Stella, if the girl didn't die, none of us would have fault her father for spanking her. Yes spanking isn't the solution anymore, unlike when most of us were growing up. Communication works better, same way that the advent of technology has taken over the youths. So also, spanking is somewhat archaic these days.
DeleteHowever with this story, I sense that the aggression from both sides... (father&daughter) is the consequences of sheer poverty.
....A man with 11 children scattered across, lives with 4 jn a 2 room apartment. It is expected that they would all be in each other's faces. Hence he was aggrieved by her moral decadence. Bet his other kids who leave else where will exhibit some youthful exuberance too, but they are not in his face like this girl.
.......And on the girls side, I imagine that she thinks her father is a failure compared to her peers who perhaps have everything at their disposal.
...From what the father said, it seems like she was a rebellious child who didn't have it all. And as a result, she misplaced her unruly aggression on her father who perhaps couldn't live up to their expectations. Its cumulative.
.....Hence the saying, a hungry man is an angry man.
If he was wealthy enough to have a bigger apartment, I am sure that he wouldn't even pay his daughter much mind. The man is retired and has a lot of time to mind his kids.
I can't really fault him, again I would rather blame, or attribute the unfortunate incident to poverty, instead of the Devil. Sad much
Oh my God
ReplyDeletePsychopath!!! Soldiers can be brutal! U need to see them beating their kids in their barracks! With koboko of life!+kicks that can stop someones's heart beat!
DeleteY will d wife stand by u? U killed her child mehn!
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Hmmmm SDk! Bringing up kids in the way they should go, not a day's job? Who else to blame if not d devil.. Satan took his temper n worked on it at d spot.. We all need Holy Spirit because kids can make u go gaga
ReplyDeleteThe man is obviously very frustrated and wicked. Y beat a child with a nail- studded plank (if at all). He needs to spend the rest of his life in jail to think about what he did.
ReplyDeleteParents need to stop beating their wards needlessly cos satan can easily turn d situation into a regrettable one. My two cents
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As a father, you are supposed to contain your anger, how can you hit a child with a plank that has a nail, what were you expecting? She is 14 yrs and at that age they tend to exhibit adolescent exuberance. You need to apply wisdom in dealing with them at this ages. They are other means of scolding a child. The man went too far.
ReplyDeleteThis is really sad.
ReplyDeleteHe took 'the rod of correction' too literarily.
The blame is on the mother, i have seen countless mums like this, you encourage your kids to be unruly through bad upbringing and you expect things to go well. The man went too far but you only have to deal with kids to know how annoying it can be when your own spawn wnt listen to you
ReplyDeleteWhat utter rubbish! It gets my goat when I hear men (if I can call them that) blame domestic violence or in this case, violence against his child, on the mother/wife. There will always be people that will provoke you...your boss, your subordinate, police, even okada man...will you go round and start beating up everybody??! You know how to control yourself when it comes to others but not your loved ones who can't defend themselves against you??! Utter rubbish!
DeleteGod have mercy! The devil has reall come to kill, steal and destroy!
ReplyDeleteStellastica,scolding does not work in naija....that's why most peoples uses cain....me I use cain on my children and its working for me....
ReplyDeleteCain ko, Abel ni. Its Cane.
DeleteAbeg the court and Judge that handled the Arowolo's case should handle this one.
ReplyDeleteYou deliberately hit a child with a plank spiked with nails and you say you just wanted her to feel the pain?
He should not have used a plank studded with nails. Like he stated, he uses that weapon to defend himself against armed robbers in his place of work. Was she an armed robber? Couldn't he have just slapped her around a lil bit? Stella, I agree with you that being close to you kids helps in setting them straight but in this man's case he reproduced a football team, it'll be difficult to manage them without a little spanking and koboko. But he went too far on this one though.
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I was 4years old when My father an ex prisons officer pounced on my mother when she was 7 months pregnant. Left her to bleed, and eventually she died with the pregnancy which coincidentally was twin fetus. Military men are just the worst! After over 30 years, I still struggle to forgive my father.
ReplyDeleteAnd I was even dating one though he was calm but in the aspect of women eh call him baba lol
DeleteTake heart dear
DeleteThe man is on drugs.
ReplyDeleteSoldiers are BEASTS, Nigeria soldiers.
ReplyDeleteProsecution: she was rude so you dragged her "specifically" into your room, why? Bcos you have a weapon you want to use on her. Did you know it had nails? Yes! Yet you still went ahead to hit her with it, with such force she died after 5 days. Your dear daughter you say, yet you didn't rush her to the hospital "immediately" you hit her when your eyes cleared. You blame the devil. It's too bad the devil cannot come here to corroborate your story. I rest my case!
ReplyDeleteU were usinq a nail studded plank... Wat. Were u xpectinq? Or u tot u were hittinq a rock? D qurl died not forqivinq him + he has2 live wif d quilt of havinq killed his dauqhter.
ReplyDeleteYou should have used a plaine cane. Jess!
ReplyDeleteYou should have used a plain cane
ReplyDeletestella,imwith u,y hit a child like an animal...correct d child, deny d child of something he likes,talk to d child well,not hit a child with nail for that matter...nigerians are barbaric..smh
ReplyDeleteNothing absolutely wrong in beating a child......you however only use your hands or a cane on the buttocks.....never beat anyhow cos you might hit a sensitive part.....when you beat call the child later and talk to them and let them know the consequences of their actions.....and you fool saying Nigerians are barbaric u need ur head examined....the not beating that is prevalent in the developed countries have increased the rate of dysfunctional homes cos discipline is nonexistent.....there has to be a balance.....
ReplyDeleteAnd he has ti be from Jesse! *big sigh* This my town keeps entering d news for wrong reasons. D1998 Jesse fire disaster easily comes to mind...
ReplyDeleteAnon Feb 22 6:20pm....and after all u said ,,if u are a Nigerian,,,then u must be foolish,,,why generalizing that all Nigerians are barbaric??what do u have to say to the rate of moral decadence in many homes in other parts of the world that do not spank children??there has to be a way of balancing disciplinary measures when it comes to kids...Anon Feb 22 9:36pm...u said it all....
ReplyDeleteAnon Feb 22 1:08pm......what can I say??i ask dis question bcos i am trying to put myself in ur shoes,,,will i be able to let go too???but pls,,for God's sake.... forgive ur dad and let go,,,am sure he's still living with the guilt and that is enough torture already.....it is well...
Its a pitY sad news,Jesse isn't in warri but sapele point of correction SDK.
ReplyDelete