Man strangles two of his children to death as sacrifice to father

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The suspect identified as Thomas Matthew, a resident of Mountain village opposite Dantata Camp, Asokoro, Abuja, reportedly claims that his late father initiated him into an occult group, Daily Post reports.

In his confession, Matthew adds that his late father appeared to him and ordered him to sacrifice his children to him.

Daily Post reports that the suspect killed their 2-month-old son last year by strangling him to death and then strangled their four-month-old daughter, Mary, to death on October 7, 2016.

According to the CP, the wife of the suspect identified simply as Bola, reported the case to the police on Friday, October 7 when the shocking incident took place for the second time.

Mustafa confirmed the incident in a statement over the weekend, saying that Matthew beat up his wife who is deaf and dumb and threw her out of their home.

Bola reportedly explained to the police that Matthew had tried to kill their 9-year-old son in the past but she caught him in the act and sent her son away to live with her mother.

With the help of a sign language expert, Bola said,

“I didn’t know that my husband is a cultist. I remember when he first tried to kill our first son, I reported the matter at the Garki Police Station. It was my mother who took the boy away from the house and he is still staying with her in Mararaba, Nasarawa State.

“Then I had another son last year. When he was two months old, he became sick. My husband killed him in September 2015. I didn’t know until he confessed. This year I had our daughter.

“In the night of October 7, 2016, we were together in the house when suddenly he started beating me. I got injured and ran away to his elder sister’s house.

“Before I came back with his sister, he had strangled our baby to death. He locked the door and ran away.

“It was policemen from Asokoro Police Station, where I reported the case that broke the door and found the baby. We rushed the baby to Asokoro General Hospital.

“The doctor said the baby was dead. Now I have only one son left, Josiah. It was only God who saved me from the power of darkness,” Bola lamented.

During his interrogation, Matthew said, “I got married to my wife, Bola, and we were blessed with three kids. My father is a cultist and he initiated me into the occult.

“My father asked me to and mark of honour to him, promising he would make me become rich.

“It was a covenant that nobody knew, even my wife. My father gave me conditions that if anybody got to know or I revealed the covenant, that the covenant would be destroyed.

“From the time I had my first child, my father began disturbing me to offer my child to him as a sacrifice. I tried to kill my first child by strangling, but my wife caught me and reported to the police and her mother came to take the child away from the house.

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“He has been staying with her in Mararaba. Later my father appeared to me after I had my second son, John, who became sick. I strangled him to death in 2015.

“On October 7, 2016, my father appeared to me again that I should kill my only daughter. I was with my wife and then I started beating her and she ran away to my elder sister’s house and I locked the door and and she died.

“I locked the entrance of the house and ran away. It was the youth in my area that arrested me and handed me over to the police. I wanted to kill my younger brother according to my father’s instruction."

The suspect who hails from Kwande Local Government Area of Benue state said that his father is still alive and in the village.

Mustafa revealed that the investigation into the case was still ongoing and that the suspect would be arraigned in court upon its completion.