Both luck and the popular Yoruba saying that, 'train your child to give you rest of mind' worked against Mrs. Martina Usha, a 57-year- old resident of Maraban Rido, a suburb of Kaduna, as her son she laboured so hard to give the best of education butchered her like a cow and dumped her dismembered body in a well.
Although the incident occurred mid last month, but skeletal details were at the disposal of Crimewatch until recently, when our reporter succeeded in speaking with the 34 years old suspect, Emmanuel Usha, at the Kaduna Police Command Headquarters.
Crimewatch gathered that Martina was the first wife of Engineer Godwin Usha and a mother of three children. Her first child, a girl, was said to have died at the age of 15, leaving the woman with two boys, Emmanuel and his younger brother.
A source close to the Usha family disclosed how the suspect had been passionate about blood or had been using blood for something which is not yet known to people. According to him, Emmanuel had always loved draining blood from animals, right from his Secondary School days.
"Emmanuel had at one time, killed a dog in their compound, drained its blood and kept it in his room for use which is best known to only him. He did the same thing to a cat which was even very friendly with both the young and old in the compound," he recalled.
Though, the suspect had allegedly had series of quarrels with his late mother and even hit her with shovel, no one, including his parents suspected he could butcher his biological mother in such a dastardly manner. The recent problems which resulted in the death of Mrs. Martina, was said to have begun, after she relocated from Ungwan Television, where she lived with her husband, to her apartment in Sabo Tasha.
Crimewatch gathered that it was at Sabon Tasha that Emmanuel made the first attempt to murder her. That was the time he allegedly used shovel to hit her on the hand.
According to the same source, there were several other unsuccessful attempts by the suspect to kill her, before the recent one, which led to death of the hapless woman. Investigation further revealed that the four bedroom flat, where deceased was eventually butchered was built by her, after her retirement as a senior staff of Kaduna Refining and Petrochemical Company (KRPC). She was said to have moved into the house with Emmanuel and his sibling.
Report also had it that before she met her untimely death, there was a face-off between her and the suspect, immediately she returned from where her younger son was receiving medical treatment.
Another source, who lives close to late Martina's house told our reporter how she was passing by that fateful Monday evening and heard a faint shout from someone, who was screaming for help, adding that nobody could enter into the compound because of the high fence. The source, who preferred anonymity added: “Small time, we no hear the noise again and we come think say, everything don dey okey." She explained that the woman ceased screaming, adding that since they were sure that her son was inside the compound, they had no reason to be worried until they reported her missing the following day.
Another source disclosed that Emmanuel never reported his mother's disappearance to anyone, including her church members and friends, until some concerned members of her church saw him outside and asked after her. He was said to have snubbed them and that was how people began to suspect foul play.
The source further added: "Reaching Wednesday morning, Reverend Father Mark, the Priest of the Mission, became apprehensive and queried what must have gone wrong that made Mrs. Martina Usha, who never missed any morning devotion to be absent? The concern for Mrs. Martina’s wellbeing compelled her closest friend, Veronica Umah and Volunteered Catechist, Michael Iheoma, to immediately rush to her house, where they met Emmanuel, and asked after his mother.
They met her son, (Emmanuel), asked him after his mother and he was said to have responded in a very harsh tone, which gave them the impression that something must have gone wrong.“When we went to the house, I spoke with him and asked after his mother and he responded harshly, saying, ‘my mother has not come back’.”
It was further gathered that shortly after that, some youths from the church also came to the house , where they saw him mopping the floor, a development which gave more room for suspicion. According to them, they knew the suspect was not known to be humble enough to get involved in domestic chores, such as mopping of the floor.
But out of annoyance, occasioned by the insistence of church members on knowing Mrs. Martina's whereabouts, Emmanuel rushed to Ungwan Television to inform his father for the first time, about her mother's disappearance.
And when Engineer Usha rushed to Maraban Rido and did not see his wife, he quickly reported the matter to the police. Crimewatch checks, however, revealed that the following day, a member of the Communication Committee of the St. Simon Catholic Church, Brother Godwin Boi, and the Chairman of the Committee, Brother David Adayi, came to the house and desperately carried out a search and suddenly concentration of houseflies at the back of the house where a well is situated.
The discovery was said to have compelled them to open the well and offensive orduor oozed out.
It was the offensive odour that made them to order Emmanuel to fetch some water from the well for scrutiny.
And when he fetched it, he testified by that it had a foul odour. And before they could ask further question, he had taken to his heels. But unfortunately for him, he ran into the waiting hands of some angry youths, who were desperately waiting outside the gate to be furnished with the latest information on the matter.
He was later handed over to the police, after parts of his late Martina's body were recovered from the well by some experts.
Though, Engineer Usha did not want to speak to the press, he, however, confided in a journalist who is very close to the family that his son, "had given very conflicting statements at the police station, which pointed to the fact that he killed his mother.”
He said further: “At the moment, the dismembered parts of my wife have been stitched together at Barao Dikko Specialist Hospital and we will be taking the corpse to rest in the village."
Meanwhile, after several fruitless moves by the reporter, to have access to the suspect who has since the incident, been in the police net, he was eventually paraded before newsmen last Friday.
Below is the excerpt of the reporter’s interaction with the alleged mum killer:
Why are you here?
I was framed up, I went home and discovered my mother in the well and I couldn’t escape.
Who framed you up?
People who didn’t want me to believe I was a graduate from the military school. I graduated from Arizona Academy Air Force in 2010. I am presently teaching in my mother’s school.
There is an allegation that you killed your mother, what can you say about that?
I didn’t kill my mother, those who didn’t want me to believe I graduated from the military school killed her.
Some of them are our neighbours, some of them even stole my uniform and the rifle I got from the academy in the country. They didn’t want me to achieve anything in this country. I know some of these people but not all of them.
What time of the day was your mother killed?
It was sometimes in the evening. I was at home earlier, before I went out to smoke. When I came back, the deed had already been done.
When you came back from where you went to, what did you see in the house?
There was nothing unusual in the house; there was also nothing to show that somebody attacked her.
After my mum disappeared from the house, I went to my father’s house that night. When I was coming back, there were people around the house, waiting for me to come and open the gate, they started searching and discovered the body in the well.
You were alleged to be mopping the floor of your room the same day, what were you trying to cover up?
I was mopping oil stain. My shoes stepped on engine oil, when I was entering the house to take key to fill the generator with fuel.
What was the relationship between you and your mother like, before her death. We learnt you usually fought with her?
My mother was the one who brought me to Maraban Rido after I could not discover my house. I forgot and these people were taking my things away so, I couldn’t remember that I was having a house like that.
She was the one, who brought me into the house and organized my school for me. She was the one, who was paying my school fees. I was staying with my father in Ugwan Television before, but I wasn’t doing anything because the school I finished in Nigeria, I didn’t make it, I finished Mossi Gabriel, I finished New Breed, Labayi, I even took some exams but all, I didn’t make any of the papers.
I also schooled abroad at Arizona Academy, Air Force and that was the one my mother was carrying forth for me but she wasn’t telling me anything.
We learnt that you were always quarreling with your mother, how true is this allegation?
I don’t fight her always but on one occasion, I used shovel to injure her and it was because I was instructed to go to the house to collect my phone from her and she didn’t want to give it to me. And she was not paying attention to my transportation money to go back home, so I had to trek home that night, so I was annoyed and I attacked her that night.
That time, I was not living with her, I was living with my father in Television, while she was living in Sabo at that time.
Who are you suspecting to have killed your mother?
I suspect our neighbour, where she used to keep the things she took away from me before I woke up.
What are those things?
My uniform, my rifle, I have a rifle that I was given in the country when I finished. My identity card was an international number, I was supposed to separate it into two, I gave the national ID card. Whenever they give it to me, I’m supposed to wake up the following day, after the injection my head swagger.
So, what were you doing with gun?
Yes, I have a gun, it was given to me in the country, because I attended an Air Force Academy. When you are a scholar with them, they give you a rifle for protection. They signed it for me and I was supposed to finish with my commission.
What about your mother’s handset which you were alleged to have taken?
She travelled and came back that morning, we didn’t have time to talk, so, I came back in the evening from school.
She asked me about the handset I sold, I denied taking the handset. Later, she discovered that the second handset was missing. She was very annoyed that she didn’t realize that she was not having the communication system in the house. So, while she was barking at me, I went to the room and she went out. That was the last time I saw my mother alive.
The police recovered a very sharp knife from your room, what were you doing with it and the shovel found under your mattress?
It is the knife I used in peeling oranges when my mother buys for me. The shovel is my rifle I was using in Arizona Academy, it was a gun but they changed it to shovel for safety.
Do you smoke and what do you smoke?
Yes, I smoke cannabis and cigarette.
Have you ever been taken for any rehabilitation in the past?
Several times, my mother took me for rehabilitation. I don’t drink, when I drink, I vomit and I fall very sick so my mother was concerned. She told my father about it and they went to complain to NDLEA about it. They took me there for rehabilitation, since then, I don’t drink alcohol again. I only smoke.
What led you into drugs?
In the school, it was a project that I should continue smoking, because it is something I used when I am on patrol, so that I will not be bored. We were trained that way in school to smoke. When my mother gave me my ID card, I realized that it was true, I was an army, the clothes given were that of army but my eyes could not see the colour actually. I don’t see green because they didn’t give me my glass to see.
How do you feel about your mother’s death?
I feel very bad because people believe that I killed my mother. I am actually the one in need of my mother, because she promised to give me all the things she seized from me before going to stay with my brother in Sabo.
