The matriarch of the family, Felicia, who narrated the October 1, 2013 incident, said: “My husband was bubbling in the euphoria of his in-laws’ visit from Lagos that fateful October 1, 2013 when some gunmen walked in.
Pa Samuel Ebhosele Philip
“The gunmen demanded that papa should produce his first son, Jerry Philip, who came from Lagos with his wife, children and in-laws. Jerry was in one of the bedrooms in the house as this happened.
He hid in the room while the gunmen threatened papa to produce him. Fearless as papa was, he refused to tell the gunmen where Jerry was hiding in the house following which papa was shot in annoyance by the gunmen.
“The gunmen subsequently ejected all of us remaining in the house and set it ablaze. We couldn’t even carry the corpse of papa before the gunmen torched the house. And what was more worrisome was the fact that we were not sure whether Jerry escaped or was still in the house when it went up in flames.
“It was not until about one hour later that Jerry telephoned to say he escaped before the assailants set the house ablaze. I informed him about the fate that had befallen his father and that the gunmen threatened to get him at all costs.”
The widow lamented that whereas the family had been rendered homeless on account of the burning of their home, the incident has forced her only son, Jerry, into exile.
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