by Chinwe Okafor

Chiemeriem Benjamin, has been reported to have accidentally killed her childhood friend, Lawrence Oloruntobi, during a minor disagreement.

According to reports by Vanguard, Chiemeriem said: “Lawrence is my friend; we grew up together and have lived in the same environment from as far back as I can remember.

“On that day, I was just not in the mood to talk with him. When I came out in the morning, he tried to make some jokes, which we would ordinarily laughed about. But I told him I was not interested in such.

“I went out later that day and on my way back, I saw him forcing my younger brother to play in a stagnant body of water in front of our compound.

“My brother was crying out for help, because he did not want to be dragged into the water. I quickly walked up to Lawrence to stop him. He took it personal and told me he would slap me.

“Out of anger, I told him that even his mother would not dare slap me. He then went in to get a cane, which has always been his tradition whenever we are having a misunderstanding.

“I also rushed into our room to grab a knife. But my elder brother and a neighbour, called Iya Ayo, intervened and settled the matter.”

According to the 17-year-old, Senior Secondary 1 student, “about two hours later, Lawrence came back to meet me, threatening to deal with me. We started exchanging words, which later culminated in a fight.

“I went in and grabbed another knife just to threaten him.

“Unfortunately, while my elder brother, who intervened again, was trying to plead with Lawrence not to fight with me because I am a girl, I angrily stabbed Lawrence in the chest with the knife.

“It was only after my action that I realized what I had done. I started calling out for help because I was very scared.

“Few neighbours, who were around, responded and we quickly rushed him to a nearby hospital, but it was too late. He died.

“Sincerely, I never meant to kill him with the knife. I only wanted to threaten him, but I just do not know how and why I stabbed him.”

The case, which is currently being investigated by operatives in the homicide section of Lagos State Criminal Investigation Department, SCID, would soon be charged to court.