How Delta student was stabbed to death by brother over slippers

From Joe Obukata Ogbodu, Warri

A student of the Federal University of Petroleum Resources, Effurun (FUPRE), Delta State, has allegedly been stabbed to death by his elder brother following a quarrel over a bathroom slippers.

The siblings, both students of the institution, were involved in the incident, which reportedly occurred at Hostel C on the university campus at about 6 p.m. on Tuesday.

It was gathered that the victim was allegedly stabbed multiple times by his elder brother, identified simply as Joshua, who is currently on the run.

Sources said trouble began over a prolonged disagreement linked to a bathroom slipper. The elder brother reportedly summoned the victim to the hostel backyard to resolve the issue. However, the confrontation allegedly turned violent when the suspect stabbed his younger brother several times with a dagger before fleeing the scene.

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

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

A 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 students 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 each other 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,” another student said.

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

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

Narrating the incident, some students, who requested anonymity, said: “We were praying that he would survive, but we later learnt that he died. It was his own brother who stabbed him multiple times.

“It appears they had family issues beyond the slipper disagreement everyone is talking about. They agreed to meet at the hostel backyard to settle their differences.

“While they were there, a heated confrontation erupted and one of them had a knife. After some time, a student noticed someone crawling from the back of the hostel and raised the alarm. There was blood everywhere. The victim used his last breath to say it was his brother who stabbed him.

“He literally mutilated his body with the dagger and fled. It was a terrible sight. He stabbed his own blood brother repeatedly.”

Another resident, however, gave a different account, saying: “It was a disagreement between two brothers over bathroom slippers. It appeared that the one who died was waiting for his brother with a knife, but the other overpowered him, collected the knife and used it against him.”

A separate source said: “Why would anyone carry a knife because of a mere bathroom slipper? But even if he threatened you with a knife, why would you stab your brother repeatedly? It suggests there was a deeper grudge between them.”

Reacting to the incident, the Vice-Chancellor of FUPRE, Prof. Ezekiel Agbalagba, described it as tragic and said efforts were ongoing to apprehend the suspect and hand him over to the police.

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

He further assured parents and students that the campus remained calm and that the university authorities were on top of the situation.

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