A family’s tragedy

How Delta student was stabbed to death by brother over slipper disagreement

From Joe Obukata Ogbodu, Warri

Slippers are pairs of footwear people use on their feet but when two siblings engage in an altercation over something as trivial as bedroom slippers to the point of one killing the other, then something could be fundamentally wrong. That was the case of two siblings at the Federal University of Petroleum Resources, Effurun (FUPRE), Delta State, where an elder brother, in a fit of anger, allegedly stabbed his younger sibling, a 100-level undergraduate, also a student of the same institution, to death.

It was gathered that the incident occurred at Hostel C on campus around 6pm last week following alleged multiple stabbing by his elder brother, identified as Joshua.

Reports said trouble started for the two siblings durng a prolonged disagreement linked to a bathroom slipper. The elder brother, according to reports, had summoned the victim to the hostel backyard to resolve the issue. It was gathered that the confrontation turned violent when the suspect allegedly stabbed his younger brother several times with a dagger before fleeing the scene.

Sources familiar with the matter disclosed that the younger brother sustained serious injuries during the altercation and was rushed to hospital for medical attention by concerned students. Despite efforts to save his life, he was later pronounced dead.

The tragedy has sent panic across the university community, with students expressing grief and disbelief over the circumstances surrounding the incident.

One source said: “When bedroom slippers become the catalyst for murder, it proves that the underlying anger was already a ticking time bomb. The upbringing failed long before the trigger was pulled.” 

Many described the loss as heartbreaking, stressing that a dispute over an everyday item should never have resulted in such a devastating outcome.

“If two siblings can kill one another over mere slippers, something is fundamentally broken in how we raise children to handle anger. A pair of slippers should never cost a human life.”

It was learnt that, despite his injuries, the victim reportedly managed to crawl from the location to another section of the hostel, where he was discovered by fellow students who raised the alarm.

Images circulating online show the injured student lying in a pool of blood while being assisted by other students.

Narrating the incident, some of the students, who craved anonymity, said: “We were praying that he should not die but I think he is dead now. It is his own brother that killed him. He stabbed him multiple times. It appears they had family issues that are more than the slippers disagreement everyone is talking about. It is like they have an issue and they agreed to go to the backyard of the hostel to settle their issue.

“While they were there, I think a heated confrontation erupted and one of them had a knife. After a while, one student noticed that someone was crawling from the back and he rushed to go call the school portal. Everywhere was full of blood. The victim used his last breath to say it was his brother that stabbed him.

“He literally ‘designed’ his body with the dagger and even left the dagger in his back and fled. He tore his back and front muscle and left the dagger on his cord. It was a terrible sight. He stabbed his own blood brother horribly.”

One resident said: “It was just two brothers who were dragging bathroom slippers. It was a normal disagreement but it escalated. It appears the one that died was the one who took the knife to wait for his brother but he overpowered him and collected the knife, which he used to kill him.”

Another source said: “Why will he carry a knife to wait for his brother because of a mere bathroom slipper? But why would the other one even stab his brother multiple times repeatedly because he threatened him with a knife? Is that not terrorism? That is even not self-defence. He wanted to kill him before; they had a grudge in mind before.”

Reacting to the incident, the Vice-Chancellor,  Prof. Ezekiel Agbalagba, described the development as tragic, noting that the university had begun efforts to track down the suspect and hand him over to law enforcement authorities.

“It was a misunderstanding between two brothers of the same mother, the same father. We are trying to get the young man who committed the heinous crimes and hand him over to the police. As of now, we are still looking for him,” Agbalagba said during a brief call.

While noting that the campus was “calm,” he assured parents and students that university authorities were on top of the situation.

When contacted, Delta State Police Public Relations Officer, SP Edafe Bright, said the incident was confirmed but the suspect was at large.