Father beats 14-year-old daughter to death over church choice

Juliana Francis

A 72-year-old man has beaten his 14-year-old daughter to death at the Iba area of Lagos State, over her refusal to attend The Lord’s Chosen Church with him.

The deceased mother, Mrs. Comfort Udin, 40, explained that her husband had been angry over their daughter’s refusal to follow him to attend his church, The Lord’s Chosen.

Comfort said that her husband, John Udin used a stick, covered with nails, to beat his daughter.  One of the nails perforated her forehead and she later died.

According to her, the victim, Ejiro Udin’s journey to the grave started last week Tuesday after they told John that they were going to church. The church was however a new church, which Comfort had started attending with the children. She said she did not like John’s church after she attended it once.

John had forbidden them from going to church that day. This order had generated a quarrel and john had started beating Ejiro with a whip.

He later dropped the whip, picked the stick, which had nails and slammed it on her forehead.

Rather than take the young girl to hospital, John was alleged to have locked both mother and daughter inside the kitchen, where they spent the night.

By the time they took Ejiro to hospital on Sunday, almost five days after the nail attack, it was too late. She died at the hospital, that same day.

John on the other hand, said his wife was lying. He explained that he has 14 children and had never killed any of them.

According to him, he was intending to hit his wife with the stick, but his wife pushed Ejiro into the stick and dogged.

He explained that on the fateful Tuesday, his wife and daughter had attacked him, after he told them not to go to church that evening because they had not given him food since morning of that day.

Comfort has four children for John, with Ejiro being the eldest. His other eight children are from two former wives.