<<Print>>Shock engulfed Jaway Anlo, a fishing community near Half Assini in the Jomoro District in the Western Region, last Monday, after a food-poisoning plot hatched by a 34-year-old man against his estranged concubine, ended up killing her and four children.
The children died alongside the woman, Ami Noviegbor Kugblenu, 26, after they had eaten ‘gari-fortor’, a local dish, which the suspect, Mawutor Hoevor, had laced with rodenticide, a poisonous substance.
Police said Mawutor, now in custody, had confessed to the crime. He explained that he could not stand the humiliation handed him by the woman and his friends, who, he claimed, composed a song to tease him.
The children, identified as Miracle Woeko, three; Nelson Woeko, two; Fredrick Galatsi, three; and Angela Yetume, five; were children of Ami’s friend.
Cohabitation
The two had allegedly cohabitated for years without children and the suspect was not ready to pay her bride price. The woman was also said to have complained about bouts of sexual assault from the man, and was, therefore, forced to abandon the suspect’s home.
Speaking to the Daily Graphic, the Jomoro District Police Commander, Superintendent of Police, Mr John F. Dzineku, said the suspect sneaked into the room of the woman at about 4 a.m. on Monday and put poison in a quantity of gari, which she used in preparing the meal the following morning for breakfast.
Mr Dzineku said while Ami, who was a fishmonger, was waiting for her friend so that they could move to the shore for the day’s business, the children of Ami’s friend started crying and complaining of hunger.
To save time, Ami went for the remaining food and served the children with it.
The district commander said just after that, Ami went down with severe stomach pains, and was shortly followed by the four children, who also went down in pain. They were rushed to the Half Assini Government Hospital but they died on arrival.
Medical confirmation
He said after the incident, medical experts from the hospital were contacted, who confirmed the poisoning of the food they had eaten.
That led the police to the premises of Mawutor, and a search in his room revealed the leftovers of the rodenticide used in the deadly act.
Also found in the room was Ami’s bathroom sandals.