A-29-year-old father, Benedict Anieze arrested for smashing the skull of his one-month-old baby, Onyiyechi Anieze to death has denied killing his daughter intentionally.
Narrating his ordeal to CASEFILE on Friday at the Lagos State Police Command Headquaters in Ikeja, the suspect said the baby fell from the grip of his hands when he picked her from the bed, just after he came out from the bathroom but his wet feet slipped on the floor tiles of his home.
The suspect narrated the incident following a press briefing at the Lagos State Police command where the Lagos State Police Public Relations Officer, SP Benjamin Hundeyin presented achievements of the Command in the last one month.
The Command’s Spokesperson, informed journalists that the suspected child killer was one of the 32 suspects arrested in connection with various crimes.
Representing the Commissioner of Police, Abiodun Alabi, the police Spokesperson said suspected armed robbers, kidnappers, cultists, and persons alledgedly involved in defilement and murder of some residents of the State were arrested in connection with one crime or acts of criminality.
Such is the case of 29 year old Benedict, who was among the pack.
Giving his narration, Banedict said, “I am worried that I am here, what happened is paining me in my body, because she is my blood. I and my baby did not fight, neither do I have anything in mind that I want to kill my baby.”
Responding to allegation of killing his baby, he said, “While back from work on the day of the incident, as I entered that day, I did not see anybody inside, I started wondering why this woman (his wife) carried this baby outside because I had already warned her not to carry the baby outside because the baby was too small to go outside until she is six months.
“As I entered that day, I have already removed my clothes and I went to bath.”
Responding to questions whether he smashed the baby or not, he replied, “I did not smash the baby, I carried the baby, water was on my legs, for me to turn like this my leg ‘draw’ for tiles, and that is when the baby fell from my hands and I was trying to hold her like this, I even hit my hand on the ground,” he said.
He explained that no one was present when the baby fell and died.
According to him, “No one was there, the only person who I saw immediately I was shouting was my woman, she was not inside.
“When she dropped the baby, she went outside because of the fear, because I have already told her several times that she should not be going outside with the baby,” he told this reporter.
Asked why he set the house ablaze and ran away, Benedict acknowledged that following the sad incident, (speaking in Pidgin), “I don comot for the spirit, because the baby that I just had and that was giving me happiness since, I just wanted to follow the baby, just to kill myself and I am not happy.”
He continued that as he saw his baby’s corpse on the floor, the only thought on his mind was to kill himself.
He said that it was at that point that his wife started banging the door and shouting that people should help that their house was on fire.
He debunked that he had any disagreement with his wife prior to the incident.
He added that the incident occurred barely after taking his bath and had just picked up the baby from the bed.
He denied killing the baby for ritual purpose as rumoured in some quarters, while he admitted that the death of the baby was his fault, he reasoned, “It is not her mother’s fault, it is from my hand, it was an accident, I did not deny that one but I am not happy the way the baby died.”
He lamented, “I would be a foolish person to born a baby, carry it and kill her. I didn’t kill my baby. It was an accident.”
He claimed that he feels so bad and wished that he could die along with his baby.
He said he sometimes gets drunk when he goes out for a drink with friends.
The police however said that the child was killed by him at Idimu, in Lagos on April 6, 2022 when the suspect was alledged to have been in a drunken state.
The police said the father smashed his own one-month-old child’s head on the floor after a quarrel with his wife.
Meanwhile, early in April news had rented the air that a father had picked up a baby and hit the head on the floor until the baby died.
The suspect is now in the custody of the police and would soon be charged to court.
