One could feel the sorrows of this young woman form a far distance. Since the evening of December 11, 2018, life has not remained the same for her. There is no guarantee that she’ll come out of her current emotional state anytime soon. The last few days have indeed been a very terrible period for 32-year-old Favour Archibong, a native of Imo State resident in Port Harcourt, Rivers State.
Trouble started on the morning of that fateful day when her husband, Patrick, began fomenting trouble at home. Being his usual way of behaving, the young lady didn’t take him too seriously. She had thought that in no time, the tension would simmer down and everyone would have their peace. She was wrong! By the time the day ran its full course, chaos had taken over in their home.
Narrating the sad incident of that day with a swollen face during an encounter with a news personnel, Archibong could barely utter words coherently. The pain she has suffered appears to have drowned her voice. Hope may have left her closet.
“My late husband, Patrick, was a stonemason and carpenter. He was a very hot-tempered person who was always upset.
“Each time I tried to find out if there was anything bothering him and making him to behave angrily, it always ended in trouble.
“He drank alcohol a lot and smoked a lot too.
“I remember on the morning of that fateful day, while I was having my bath, he came into the bathroom and I asked if he wanted to use the toilet.
“Rather than give me a response, he threatened to break my head if I asked him any other question. He said he was going to do something that would teach me a big lesson in life.
“I thought he wasn’t serious until he picked up a bucket and hit my face with it, leaving me bleeding profusely.
“He left the house and returned in the evening with a big loaf of bread. I had just finished bathing the children and thought that his anger must have subsided. But he was still upset, threatening to kill me if I didn’t get out of the house. As he was coming to attack me, I ran out of the house to a neighbour’s place,” she said.
It was while hiding in the neighbour’s house that tragedy struck that night. The enraged Patrick, strangled their four children: Blessing, eight; Delight, five; Cherish, three; and 18-month-old Bright. He did not stop there. He set the entire apartment on fire before taking his own life as well. It was the height of a 10-year abusive marriage that had threatened to consume the young woman herself.
“I was hiding in our neighbour’s house when somebody ran to inform me that our apartment was on fire and that my children were inside.
“A few minutes later, I realised that Patrick had killed my four children before committing suicide. I could not stand the shock, I fainted,” she revealed.
“The corpses of the five persons have been sent to the mortuary to carry out post-mortems on the bodies. The police had since commenced investigation into the matter. The reason for the action of the man has not been ascertained,” he said.