Few hours my son phoned me that his wife had threatened to kill him, he was killed – Mother cries for justice

Friday November 23 ,2018 will ever remain indelible in the heart of Mrs Mercy John as she received a phone call from her first son on a Save-our-soul, but she failed to respond on time .

Few hours that Edwim John, 38 allegedly called that his wife and mother In- Law had threatened to kill him, he was stabbed to death.
Now the woman is full of regrets, wishing that the hand of the clock would turn back, but it is too late as her 38 – year – old is now cold in the mortuary.

Edwin John was sent to an early grave allegedly by his wife, Mercy Jeremiah, who allegedly invited two Man ‘O’ War officials to settle a domestic quarrel between her and her husband and along the line there was a fight between Edwin and the Man ‘O’ War, one of the invited guests stabbed him to death.

Presently, Mercy and her alleged accomplices are telling detectives at the State Criminal Investigation and Intelligence Department ( SCIID) ,Panti , Yaba ,Lagos on how they killed the young man.

Giving a graphic account on how her son, Edwin was killed, Mercy who incidentally bear the same name with her daughter In -law, said: “I will never forget that fateful Friday night, I wish the hand of the clock will be turned back. I was about going to bed at about 11 pm when my son, Edwin called me on the phone, telling me that his life was in danger.

I was afraid and asked what the problem was. John told me that his wife and mother in -law had threatened to kill him.
“When he told me that his wife and mother-in-law were threatening to kill him, I waved it with my left hand because, I found it funny to believe that kind of threat.

More so, it was too late to risk my life as I would not get a commercial motorcycle (Okada)to take me to his house ,so I begged him to be calm and maintain peace till the following day that I would visit him so that we would resolve the problem between him and his wife.

“The following day, to be precised ,on Saturday, I left very early to my son’s house which is not too far from my house. When I arrived the compound, I saw my grand children, Nelson and Queen being guided by one of their neighbours. They did not rush to embrace me as they used to do.

When I met them, I asked why they were outside, and Nelson told me that they were asked to stay with their John, 
“I was confused and became more confused when the woman who was guiding them told me that the children were handed over to her by the police. She told me that if I wanted to know why she was keeping the children, I should go to the police.

I rushed down to the police station where I was told by a policeman that my son has been murdered by his wife. I temporarily passed out, but I later regained consciousness. When I came back to life, I was told that my son was in the hospital. To cut the story short, another senior officer after much advice, broke the news of my son’s death. I quickly put a call to my son’s mother-in-law, who responded that my son got what he wanted.

“It was the response of my son’s mother in – a law that reminded me of my son’s SOS message that his wife had threatened to kill him. I blamed myself for not going to rescue my son while in distress, but I did not know that his wife would go to that extent of killing him.

“My anger is that when my son called me few days ago and told me that he would visit to celebrate Christmas with me. He John, me that he had no money, but he would try and celebrate with us. He also gave me a good news that he had sold his second car to open a shop for his wife. I was so happy when he told me that my jobless daughter in -who bear the same name, Mercy with me has a job, not knowing that she was planning to kill my son.

“My daughter-in-law and I were in good terms. If my son had offended her, she should have called to tell me. My son and his wife had been having domestic quarrels, I know, but there is no perfect marriage. Recently son, Edwin complained that his wife had sold virtually every property in the house, but I did not know it would lead to his death. How I wish she had told me what Edwin stole from her, I would have sold all I have to pay back. Edwin was an easy-going fellow.

He was living in our family house at Ajah beforeJohn, junior convinced him to pack out. If he had not packed out from our family house, he would still be alive as someone would have intervened when he was quarreling with his wife.
“I am calling on the Lagos State Commissioner of police, Mr. Imohimi Edgal and well-meaning Nigerians to wade into the matter to seeing that it would not be swept under the carpet.

I need justice and I want the killers of my son to son, to book. I am of the opinion that my son was deliberately murdered by his wife. She organised the killing so, Let all those involved in the murder of my son be brought to justice. The Bible says that those who kill by the sword should also die by the sword. My son’s spirit will not rest until justice is done and justice delayed is justice denied “.

However, wife of the deceased, Mercy Jerimiah has denied the allegation that she intentionally connived with the Man ‘O’ War officials to kill her,
She told Police interrogators that: “I did not kill my husband. We were quarreling over some domestic issues and he started beating me. The beating became too much that I had to run away from the house with a swollen I ran outside so that he would not kill me.

“It was while I was running away that I came across two uniform personnel who I thought were soldiers. When I explained my predicaments to them, they decided to lead me back home as it was late at night, They followed me home to calm my husband down, but he refused to calm down and along the mortuary. he had serious altercation with them and he was stabbed to death by one of the uniform men. I did not send them to kill him. It was after they were arrested that I discovered that they were not even named, but Man ‘O’ War officials”.

However, a senior police officer who spoke on condition of anonymity at the homicide SCIID told Sunday Sun that: “It is a serious homicide case. We are investigating to know what really transpired. The case is a complicated one . The principal suspect is claiming that she invited the uniform persons who incidentally impersonated as soldiers to settle domestic quarrels between husband and wife .It is very wrong to use soldiers to solve domestic cases.

Well, her accomplices are not soldiers, but Man ‘O’ War officials. There are many questions to be answered. What were the officials doing on the street at that odd hours and why did they not take the woman to the police death. My brother, the police are not concluding that the man was killed intentionally or but there are still many questions begging for answers. We will soon get to the root of the matter “.

Lagos State Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), CSP Chike Oti, said the matter was being diligently investigated to unravel the truth about the matter.