Husband stabs wife and son over refusal to re-unite with him
Victoria Emmanuel, a 39-year-old woman, based in Kaduna state, is currently fighting for her life after her husband, Haruna Emmanuel, reportedly stabbed her.
Victoria was believed to have been subjected to domestic abuse since she married her husband 16 years ago, but she left their house in Kaduna last year after being nearly strangled by Haruna.
According to a family member, Haruna, a building engineer, visited Victoria at her new home under the pretence of coming to take his children with him.
The source added that Haruna pleaded with Victoria to return to his house, but she asked that he sign an undertaking.
She said, “What happened was that Victoria was beaten on December 28, 2021. He almost strangled her.
“She took the case to a human rights group here, and moved out of his house. Her parents rented another apartment for her.
“She would have left Kaduna, but she was schooling there.
“This was how she has been coping with her husband since she got married to him 16 years ago.
“Each time she leaves the house, he will come with different ministers of God to meet her parents, and he would cry and vow not to do that again, but it continued.
“He has signed undertakings more than three times, but he never honoured them.
“He signed an undertaking with her parents, another at Sabo police station, Kaduna and one at the state’s DSS office.
“However, he refused to sign at the human rights organisation in Kaduna, because of the conditions.
“Last Friday (May 27), he said he wanted to take his children with him; those children were with him, but he sent them to their mother when they were sick.
“She didn’t stop him, but he later apologised to her and said he wanted her back in his life,” the family member added.
Victoria stated that she was ready to walk out after her husband begged her to return home numerous times when he grabbed her by the neck, and stabbed her in the chest and other places of her body.
Victoria also claimed that Haruna stabbed their son.
She said, “My husband appeared after we had a misunderstanding, and started begging me for forgiveness, I told him that I had forgiven him, but can’t stay with him.
“I was about to walk out when he grabbed me from behind and held me by the neck, he had a knife with him and stabbed me in my right chest.
“He removed the knife and stabbed me in my left and right hands. He also targeted my neck, but I managed to dodge it.
“He stabbed me in the back region. My son was shouting and begging him not to kill me.
“Neighbours were trying to open the door, but they couldn’t.
“While my son summoned courage to push him away, he used the knife on my son’s stomach.
“The boy narrowly dodged another attempt from my husband to stab him before neighbours came to our rescue,” the wife added.
The family friend stated that Haruna had not been seen after the incident, adding that the stab injuries on Victoria’s right chest made it difficult for her to breathe properly.
She said he dropped the knife, his phones, car keys and slippers and took to his heels when neighbours were struggling to keep Victoria alive.
Victoria’s husband was apparently unable to be reached because he left his phones at the scene.
The Kaduna state police public relations officer, Mohammed Jalige, is yet to verify the incident as of the time of filing this report.
