Nigerian woman beats 14-year-old boy to death over missing US $0.63

A yet-to-be-identified woman and her son, known only as Chukwuemeka, have allegedly beaten a 14-year-old boy named Testimony to death at their home on Delta Street, Ayanre, off Ibiye bus stop, Badagry, Lagos.

The Punch correspondent gathered that the deceased was reportedly beaten for allegedly misplacing N1000 [US $0.63] note given to him by one of the suspects to buy items at the market.

Multiple sources who spoke with our correspondent said that the deceased teenager was allegedly beaten for several hours starting at 11pm on Wednesday (10 July), before succumbing to his injuries around 1am on Thursday (11 July).

One of the neighbours on Friday (12 July) said, “This young boy was beaten to death by his guardians, who were not his biological parents. The neighbours tried to intervene, but the doors were locked from the inside.

“Around 6 am this morning (Thursday), he (the deceased) wasn’t responding to his name, so they rushed him to a nearby hospital. The hospital didn’t have oxygen therapy, so they brought him back home, which aggravated the boy’s condition.”

“The woman then called her prayer partners in church to start praying for miracles to happen before the boy finally gave up the ghost. The police came exactly around 5.10 pm on Thursday to pick up the woman, who was the main suspect in the brutalities shown to the deceased.”

Meanwhile, Benjamin Hundeyin, the spokesperson for the state police command, said he could not confirm the incident when our correspondent inquired about it.

“I cannot confirm that now,” Hundeyin wrote in response to our correspondent inquiry on Friday.

However, a one-minute and thirty-two-second video shared with our correspondent by another eyewitness, who chose to remain anonymous due to the sensitivity of the matter, showed the lifeless body of the boy with severe bruises, covered with a cloth in the apartment.

One of the men suspected to be behind the camera was heard saying, “This is the dead boy with bruises,” while others were screaming in disbelief.