Chima Anolue, a lecturer at the Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka, Anambra State, got more than he bargained for when he got into an argument with his domestic worker on Friday night.
The deceased, who lectured at Psychology Department, Faculty of Social Sciences of the institution, had reportedly scolded his killer for letting the rice he was cooking get burnt, unknown to him that the incident would lead to his untimely end.
Angered by the disrespectful attitude of his employee, Anolue was said to have slapped the domestic worker, who in turn engaged him in a fight.
The suspect, who initially denied killing his master, confessed to the crime after he was tortured by local vigilante guards.
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Confessing in a viral video, the suspect said, “When he (his master) came back, he told me to cook rice. And as I was cooking the rice, he asked me why I did not wash plates. I did not reply. He then asked why I wasn’t responding to his question.
“In the process, he slapped me. But I told him I usually have ear problems, and that people don’t slap me. As I was saying that, he angrily asked if I was still talking while he was talking. And therefore, he slapped me again and brought out Cain and started flogging me all over.
“Then in the process, I got angry, and we started fighting. It was also in the process of that fight that I picked up the pestle in the kitchen and hit him on the head.”
The suspect was taken to a hospital where Anolue was rushed to after the attack.
With his hands tied behind his back, he stood in front of the lifeless body of his employer which was on a hospital bed.
Anolue’s head was seen wrapped with bandage, an indication that he bled heavily while fighting for his life.
The suspect was later taken away to where the guards threatened him.
A man pointed a riffle towards him and threatened to pull the trigger, to which he cried, “Daddy, please, don’t kill me.”
Meanwhile, tributes have been pouring in for the deceased lecturer.
In a Facebook post, one Arinze Uzoagu, wrote, “Chima was my brother. A wonderful chorister and a fine choir leader. He comes from one of the finest family in Igboukwu, his parents have loved me like their son right from my days as an undergraduate.
Chima my brother went viral yesterday not because of all the fine virtues bestowed upon him by God… But because he was gruesomely murdered by their househelp just because my brother scolded him for letting the food on fire get burnt.
“Not once, not twice but three times this animal hit Chima with a pestle on his skull.….Chima wasn’t kidnapped, he didn’t have a road accident neither did he die in his sleep. His beautiful young and promising life was cut short right inside his home by a person they housed, clothed, fed and paid. I don’t know how I feel or have felt since yesterday.”
One Rosemary Eneh said: “What! What type of a story is this? Your own house help kwa! My goodness! This is so sad. May his soul rest in peace.”
Chichi Tochukwu wrote: “This is so sad, no one deserves to die this way. May God comfort his family and may his soul rest in peace 🙏”
Iyke Ezoms said: “I am pained, Chima has been asking the mum to send the idiot back to their house that he does not like his behaviour. How will amiable Dr Ify Anolue and Husband survive this painful loss. I have been in pain since yesterday. Really sad Arinze Uzoagu.”
Prince Tony Ezeimo wrote: “No blame should go to the dead… However, I advise those living never on any circumstance to house an Abakiliki person in your house. That is suicidal!!!”
Okonkwo Eliyah Ogomeghunam: “A very cool and calm guy.what a very sad loss.may his soul rest in peace.”
Viola Ifeyinwa Okolie: “I read that story and was shocked. How the houseboy assaulted him with a knife after he lay unconscious from the pestle battering, then attempted to strangle him in the car because he noticed he was still breathing. I don’t even know what to think, this is sickening.”
DSP Tochukwu Ikenga, Police Public Relations Officer in Anambra, said the matter had not been reported to the police at the time this report was filed.
