Spirit slit my neighbour’s throat, not me –Suspect

Firstclass newsline~A 40-year-old woman, Helen Okeke, aka Mama
Chinedu, who was accused of slitting her neighbour's throat with a
knife in the Ikota, Ajah area of Lagos State, has said she is
possessed by a spirit.
The Okigwe, Imo State indigene, said she never knew that Rosemary died
until when she was arrested by the police.
Okeke, who said she was unmarried and had a son out of wedlock, asked
the family of the deceased to forgive her, as she was not in control
of herself during the incident.
Firstclass newsline had reported on Monday that Okeke and Rosemary
were neighbours in the Ikota Housing Estate.
On Wednesday last week, Rosemary, who was reportedly preparing for her
wedding, returned home and observed that the clothes she spread on her
door had been soiled with urine.
She was said to have suspected Okeke and reported to the landlady who
pacified her.
However, some minutes after meeting with the landlady, neighbours were
said to have been jolted by a sudden cry for help.
Okeke was alleged to have slit Rosemary's neck with a knife during a
brawl and was found with a blood-stained knife at the scene of the
crime.
Rosemary was said to have died on her way to the hospital.
The matter, which was reported at the Ajah Police Division, Ajiwe, was
later transferred to the State Department of Criminal Investigation,
Yaba.
During a chat with our correspondent on Monday, Okeke, who works as a
cleaner, said it was not the first time she would have a quarrel with
Rosemary.
She said, "I have been living in that house for more than two years.
The first time we fought, she shone her torch on me and I queried why
she did that. She then hit me with the torch, and that was how we
fought.
"The landlady, Alhaja, never gave me any quit notice as she claimed. I
was even the one preparing to leave the apartment because it was too
small for me."
Okeke said the victim had challenged her to a fight on the fateful day
while she was in her room.
She said she never wanted to come out until "a spirit" entered into
her room and pushed her out.
She said, "On that day, she carried a bucket of water and stood in
front of my room saying I should come out if I know I was woman
enough.
"I had just returned from where I went to buy bread and was inside my
room. I did not want to come out.
"But a spirit just entered into my room and entered me. I was shaking
uncontrollably and that was when I went out.
"I took a bucket of water and poured it on the floor in front of my
room. But Rosemary poured her bucket of water on me, and that was when
the fight started."
She said in the ensuing scuffle, she found a knife in front of her room.
"I cannot explain what happened next. I have never had this kind of
experience in my life. It was while I was at the police station that
they said she was dead.
"I need forgiveness from Rosemary and her family. I want people to
learn from my example that fighting is not good," she said.
Firstclassnewsline.net