A 16-year-old boy has been arranged before a Magistrate Court in Abakaliki, Ebonyi State, for allegedly clubbing his father, Michael Ejeh, to death.

The accused, Ifeanyichukwu Ejeh, lives in Ndiogodo Idoko village,  Ishieke community of Ebonyi Local Government Area of Ebonyi State.

Ifeanyichukwu, an SS2 student of Community Secondary School, Mbeke, was accused of hitting his father severally with a pestle when the father was asleep.

The incident, it was gathered, happened shortly after a misunderstanding between them over N1,000 given to the boy to buy food for the family. The teenager allegedly used the money to meet his school needs.

The act according to court records in No MAB/105/2017 is an offence punishable under section 319(1) cap 33 vol. 1 laws of Ebonyi State of Nigeria.

The accused, who pleaded guilty to the crime while in the dock, begged the court for leniency even as he blamed his act on evil spirit.

He said he was reading his book in their compound when something suddenly came over him and asked him to kill his father.

The suspect said he regained his senses after committing the crime and saw his father laying in his pool of blood.

The wife of the deceased, Mary Ejeh, a Cross River based businesswoman who said she was not around when the incident occurred, said the deceased gave N1, 000 to the suspect for cooking; but he used it for his school expenses. That annoyed the father, leading to a heated argument between the deceased and the boy, she said.

She disclosed that her husband had gone to bed to sleep after the misunderstanding when Ifeanyichukwu descended on him with a pestle, hitting him severally until he died.

The magistrate, Stella Ogoke, transferred the matter to the family court slated to sit on February 17 because of the boy’s tender age.