A FORTY-year-old man, Mr. Sylvester Okua, has allegedly mistook his son, Ebuka Okua, for a lion and slaughtered him instantly.
The incident, at Iyiowa-Odekpe, Ogbaru Local Government Area, Anambra State, happened when the man, with the intention of fighting the wild animal, which he said attacked him last week, slaughtered it, but it turned out to be his son who was asleep in one of the apartments.
On seeing that it was his son, he made straight to the Atani Police Station and handed himself over.
He said: “A lion appeared before me but on hitting the animal with a sharp object, it turned out to be my son.”
A family member, who pleaded anonymity, also confirmed seeing the lion when it was approaching Okua, stating that he (Okua) did not deliberately kill his son.
The source added that he died on the spot having received several matchete cuts.
Asked whether the father was insane or drunk, the entire family members said he was not insane and did not take any alcohol.
“He is a normal human being who is fond of his family.
The state chairman of the Campaign for Democracy (CD), Comrade Uzor A. Uzor, pleaded to the police to release the suspect, adding: “It is to enable him bury his son since he admitted that he did not intentionally kill him”.
The suspect had since been transferred from Atani Police Station to the State Intelligence and Investigation Bureau (SIIB), Awka, the state capital, for further investigation.
By Cyprian Ebele, Nnewi
