By Albert AKPOR
LAGOS — The police in Lagos yesterday expressed concern over rising cases of domestic violence calling on parents to pay more attention to the activities of their children and wards.
The command spokesman Mr. Frank Mba, who made this disclosure while parading a 21- year-old student identified as Mojeed Abiodun who stabbed his cousin,one Olaolu Fadipe to death. Mba said whereas the police in the state had been able to contain the activities of armed robbery in Lagos , the incessant cases of domestic violence was becoming worrisome.
“The command is worried over incessant cases of domestic violence in the state. We are in a situation where we have been able to reduced to the barest minimum incidents of armed robbery in the state, and instead of heaving a sigh of relief, we constantly inundated with deaths arising from domestic violence. Parents should pay more attention to the activities of their children .
Addressing newsmen, the police image maker said, said a minor quarrel ensued Wednesday between the suspect and his cousin who was living with them over who should warm a pot of cooked beans.
The squabble soon degenerated in the use of dangerous weapons during which the suspect grabbed a cooking knife which the duo had earlier used in peeling mango fruits and stabbed his cousin in the chest. The victim was reported rushed to a nearby hospital where doctor confirmed him dead on arrival.
The corpse had since been deposited in the public mortuary for autopsy. But the suspect, Mojeed, said he was not responsible for the death of his cousin adding that it was in the process of the deceased trying to collect the knife from him that it pierced his chest causing blood to flow freely.
“ I did not kill him, it was when he attempted to collect the knife which we had earlier used in peeling mangoes to eat from me after he was beating me an ion headed belt that the knife went into his chest. I am sure if we doctors had attended to him early enough he would not have died.”
This article highlights that Domestic Violence is a cross-cultural issue that is not dependant on age race or socio-economic situation. The issue of Domestic Violence needs to remain in the public consciousness and together we need to pressure the law makers into allocating additional resources to help tackle this issue.
If domestic violence were merely physical in nature then people would recognize it immediately and do something about it if they actually cared. However domestic violence often begins in non-violent ways and escalates. Emotional/psychological and financial forms of domestic violence are often not noticed by others and it is at that stage that actions need to be taken to prevent the violence. People don’t care about one another rather they focus on their own desires at the expense of others. Men do it frequently and then expect women to continue to love them and be tolerant of their negative words and repeatedly accept their insincere apologizes and lies that it will never happen again.
Why was it a case of one male harming another that prompted public police statements? Haven’t Nigerian women suffered for far longer and no official admonishment came as a result. That certainly reflects the true value placed on women.
Though, parents have much work to do, I strongly beleive the police still has a lot to do as well. Youths carry knives and all manners of weapons in their pockets, jackets and even taped on their legs and body. Please, the police should search a lot of youths on the streets to curb illegal weapon. Also, parents should monitor our children the kind of movies they watch, which is affecting their lives.
Thank you the Command spokesman Mr Mba for highlighting the rise of
domestic violence in Lagos. Domestic violence is like a canker disease that spreads rapidly all over the place if not checked by the state government. Most of the violence is caused by frustration brought about by inability to meet up with the necessary requirements of life such as feeding, shelter, clothing, lack of jobs and many other cases. There was a case of a father who in Lagos last month stabbed his teenage daughter because she mistakenly poured kerosene on the only bag of garri left for their consumption. Domestic violence is very common in advanced countries where a husband will stuff his gun and await the arrival of his wife from work. He then opens fire kills his wife, children, then calls the police before shooting his own head off. Domestic violence is very dangerous ,sometimes a fight occurs between a husband and a wife in midnight and in the morning the wife is found dead.