Woman kills husband, three kids, self over lingering feud

The Benue State Police Command has confirmed the killing of a
man and his three children by his wife, Rachael Adetsav, who also
took her life.

The children were named Ngwuavese, Senater and Joshua.

Our correspondent gathered that the woman, after killing her
family members, rushed out of their apartment to smash her
husband’s car before she locked up the door and stabbed herself in
the chest.

The command’s spokesman, Mr Moses Yamu, in an interview with the
News Agency 0f Nigeria on Saturday, said, “The man, Mr Nicholas
Adetsav, an employee of Makurdi Local Government Council, and his
children were killed on Friday night in Makurdi.

“His wife, who we believe is responsible for the death of the
four people, also killed herself. From information available to us,
the woman has been having issues with her husband, which might have
culminated in this.”

Yamu said the couple, who lived at Vandeikya Street, opposite
NKST Church, both worked with the Makurdi Local Government
Council.

“They have been having issues; just yesterday (Friday), the
woman was seen with a pestle trying to smash her husband’s car. No
one knows the cause of their frequent fights,” the PPRO said.

He said police personnel sent to the house found the man foaming
in the mouth, the three kids already dead, and the woman, also
dead, was found holding a knife in her hands.

“The incident happened around 8.30pm on Friday. From what we
have gathered, the couple fought on a daily basis,” he told
NAN.

A neighbour of the couple, Sandra Kaso, who spoke to Our
corresponden, said the mother of three must have first hit the
husband on the head with a pestle and, when he was unconscious, cut
open his throat before butchering their three children.

She explained, “When we heard the sound, we came out and found
the woman breaking the windscreen of their vehicle. She then went
inside and locked the door. We tried to prevail on her to open the
door but she refused.

“At a point, when the fight was becoming prolonged, we had to
alert the caretaker of the house so that he could call the police
but he said if we couldn’t settle the matter, we would be held
responsible.

“By the time we called the police at about 9pm, she had already
killed every member of the family. The police had to break open the
door to find all members of the family in a pool of blood.”

Residents of the area who gathered at the victims’ residence
described the woman as troublesome, adding that she had stabbed a
neighbour once and the case was still in court.

When our correspondent visited the house, a massive clot of
blood covered the apartment of the couple.

One of Nicholas’ colleagues, Janet Iorpav, described him as
someone who could not hurt a fly.

Iorpav said, “I knew Nick before he got married. He was a
gentleman and a lovely person, but his life changed the moment he
got married.”

According to her, everyone at the office knew Rachel as a
troublesome person who could use anything to harm whoever crossed
her way.

“No one dared court her trouble because there and then, she
would tell the person that she would kill him or her,” Iorpav
said.

Yamu, however, stated that investigation had begun to determine
the reasons for the murder-suicide, adding that the corpses had
been deposited at the morgue of the St. Theresa’s Catholic
Hospital, Makurdi.

The Chairman, Makurdi Local Government Council, Mrs Akange Audu,
confirmed that the couple were employees of the local government
council.

“The husband worked in the Department of Finance, while his wife
worked with the Department of Agriculture,” she said.

She also confirmed that the couple “were always fighting,”
adding that the woman had warned neighbours to stay out of their
fights.

A cross section of the neighbours, who spoke to NAN, also stated
that the couple had been having issues.

They said the couple had been fighting since Friday afternoon,
but no one seemed sure of the cause of their fight.

One of the neighbours told NAN that she stopped intervening in
their quarrels when Mrs. Adetsav threatened her with a knife during
one of such interventions.