Anezi Okoro’s 1972 novel, ‘One Week One Trouble’ best sums up the happenings in recent times across the globe and in Nigeria in particular. There is rarely a week that passes by in recent times without an anomaly from any paraphernalia of human endeavor rocking the social space and forcing the Nigerian people to temporarily forget their personal problems and feast on whatever burning issue under discourse.
Social media is currently awash over the gruesome murder of one Justina Otuene, a 300-level undergraduate in UNIPORT, who was studying Biochemistry by her supposed boyfriend.
According to the Rivers State Police Command, the suspect, a 400-level student of Petrochemical Engineering at the University of Port Harcourt, Demain Okoligwe, is currently in their net for allegedly killing his girlfriend and harvesting her organs at his residence along NTA Road, Ozuoba, near Port Harcourt.
The state Commissioner of Police, Emeka Nwonyi, who disclosed this at a news briefing while parading the suspect before newsmen in Port Harcourt, said the suspect after butchering his female lover, harvested some parts of her body allegedly for ritual purposes, concealed her decomposing corpse in his apartment for days until one of the suspect’s neighbours who became suspicious after perceiving a strong smell oozing from his apartment reported to the police.
Nwonyi said, “On Wednesday, October 25, 2023 at about 1530hrs, operatives of Ozuoba Division received a complaint from a Good Samaritan and neighbour of Road 20, back of NTA Ozuoba, that he went to his house where one Demain Okoligwe, a fellow tenant and perceived a very bad odour and immediately rushed to the police station, where the DPO led detectives to the scene.
“On arrival, the door was forcefully opened, and a Ghana must-go bag containing a lifeless body was recovered”.
However, in his defense during the parade, Demain said “Somebody killed her and brought the body to my house. I did not report because I knew everyone would blame me”.
THE ISSUES
Some of the pictures we have seen and according to insider sources, Demain, who is said to be a content creator, had before the ugly incident, gone all out giving his girlfriend the ‘baby girl’ treatment. It could be seen from pictures how the 20-year-old victim was living the ‘big girl and classy life’ under Demain’s influence.
While this may not be a good time to trade blames, one of the things I tell people is that often than not, when you are close to someone, and cannot really trace their source of income or the source of income does not justify the extravagant life they flaunt, it should be a pointer to raising eyebrows.
Sadly, we are at a time where people, including parents, friends, loved ones, spouses don’t care about the sources of income of people that are footing their bills. They are only concerned about getting the money and spending it.
The average young girl on the street does not rate a hardworking young man. ‘Na love I go chop,’ they often say. Parents are hell bent on their daughters to ensure they date men that are rich. Even the society itself does not rate a young man who is hustling legitimately to put food on the table until ‘he blow’.
Long before now, honesty, contentment, moral uprightness, hardwork were core values that were used to adjudge people and people who had such values were highly respected. Then, the society upheld the value system in strong terms. But today, man has idolized money to a point where if you don’t have it, you will feel worthless and useless. All of these have been aggravated by the hardship in the society.
And so, today, the average young guy on the street wants to do ‘anything’ including shedding blood to make money and be in charge. The average young man on the street no longer believes in hardwork and due process and so they can shed the blood of their loved ones, friends or foes to make money.
The problem is gradually growing beyond repair because the parents who ought to be custodian of good morals and teach their children the right values, ‘poverty don show dem shege to sey dem dey find any means to escape poverty’ – so if their children can be the conduit for escape, whether through evil or sane means, they’re ready.
Jaded as this may seem, to many, Godliness with contentment is no longer great gain. It’s about cashing even if blood will flow.
There is an urgent need to re-orientate young people. Teach our young men that cutting corners to wealth especially shedding blood is not the right path to go. We need to teach our young girls that all that glitters is not gold. We live in a world where appearances can be deceiving, where predators cloak themselves in charisma, wealth, and good looks to deceive their victims. While it’s natural to be attracted to men who seem financially secure, we must be cautious not to fall into the trap of mistaking financial success for genuine character. Many ritual killers use their wealth as a facade, luring unsuspecting women into their dangerous web of deceit.
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