Stepmother kills 4-year-old stepson over hatred for his mom

Nasarawa state police command has arrested Mrs Grace Jacob Maisamari for murdering her stepson, Ritse Micah.

Grace decided to end the life of the young boy because of the hatred she had for her stepdaughter, Miracle Micah, the mother of Ritse Micah .

According to report she threw the young boy into a well on June 27th 2019.

Grace who got married to Miracle’s father, Kapechi Micah, in 2004 after the death of Miracle ‘s mother in 2002, has been at war with Miracle ever since she entered the family .

The war between Grace and Miracle took another turn on Thursday 27th June when Grace decided to kill Miracle ‘s son, Ritse, to get back at her .

In her statement to the police after her arrest, she said she carried out the killing to punish Miracle, a 300 level Sociology student, who refused to allow her enjoy her marriage.

THE KILLING

On the fateful day, Miracle had gone to school leaving the little boy with his grandfather . Grace faked a trip to another part of the state and went to hide somewhere until her husband left the house with Ritse.

She sneaked in and hid somewhere inside the boy’s room waiting for their return . When her husband returned, he took little Ritse to his room and then retired to his own room .

Grace came out of her hiding place and carried the sleeping Ritse into a vehicle she had arranged and travelled with him from their house in Garagu, Kokona Local Government Area of Nasarawa State to Akwanga Local Government Area in the same state.

She tied him up and threw into a well.

When asked why she killed the boy, she told police she killed the boy because of the problems she had with his mother .

I decided to kill the innocent boy due to the attitude of his mother. After killing the boy, it dawned on me that I took the matter too far. I was restless but my anger against his mother’s attitude could not stop it from happening. Initially, I felt fulfilled and normal. I slept that night after the incident but the consequence of my action became clear after I was picked up by the police. I felt cold for the first time.

I don’t know what came over me but the mother of this boy is the major problem in my marriage. She has stolen my joy since I got married to her father, it has been from one problem to another, she lamented.

Narrating the incident, Miracle said she had just finished her exams at the state Univeristy in Keffi when she got a call to come home immediately.

I was in school. My heart was beating. It wasn’t okay with my spirit. So after my exams, I put a call to my father. On picking the call, we exchange greetings and he said we need to talk and he cut the call. After a short while, I called back and he said it was not something we can discuss on phone. He said I should come home.

So I prepared and came down to Garaku from Keffi where I am schooling. On getting to my father’s house, some neighbours’ children welcomed me with the sad news of the death of my son.

My son doesn’t deserve such brutality at the age of 4. He is too innocent for any right thinking person to tie his legs and hands and dump him in the well till he died. I leave everything to God, she said.

The devastated mother said she saw the early signs of her stepmother’s illthoughts towards her son but ignored them.

According to Miracle, her stepmother’s plan to kill her child started a long time ago. Last year her son suddenly got missing from the house but was later found by a river bank and returned home by a farmer the following morning.

“I went to buy some things for his school and he asked me to buy him bobo drink. But on getting home, he was nowhere to be found. We searched all around but to no avail, so we resigned ourselves to fate that night. We later reported the case to the police. But thank God, the following morning the boy was found at a river bank by a good farmer and brought back home.”

She said that few days after, her late son told her that it was her stepmother that took him to the riverside and threw him there to die.

When my father came back from work, I told him, but he said it was a weighty allegation, adding that he didn’t want any trouble. He asked me to keep mute over the issue. But I told my brother about it.”

Miracle said ever since her stepmother stepped into the family nobody has known peace .

My mother died in 2002 and my father married my stepmother in 2004. But since she came, we have no peace in this house. She chased away all my father’s friends and relations. In this area, she is at war with everybody. He chased away all tenants from our house. There was never a good testimony about her.

At a point, I wanted to take my son somewhere to school but my father prevailed on me to leave the boy here. I wanted to take him away because anytime I came home from school, neighbours would tell me about the maltreatments she subjects my son to. Severally, I complained to my father but he loves his wife and equally loves my late son.

Therefore there was nothing I could do. He doesn’t want his grandson taken away from him. He always said he doesn’t want the boy to stay away. But now the evil person has taken him away and killed him, she said

Grace is currently in detention and would be arraigned soon