Deltans are yet to recover from the shocking news of how Mr Fejiro Obiere butchered his younger brother, Mr Joseph Obiere, to death over a pair of slippers behind their apartment.

According to the police, they were both students of the Federal University of Petroleum Resources (FUPRE) in Ugbomoro, Uvwie Local Government Area, at the time of the sad incident.

Residents in Ugbomoro, the university community where the two lived, wondered why a 21-year-old who is old enough to protect his younger ones in the absence of his parents would take the life of his 19-year-old brother because of a disagreement over a little thing like bathroom slippers. “I have not stopped asking myself why the young man did what he did. Could it be parental failure?” Madam Agnes asked.

According to the Delta State Police Public Relations Officer, Superintendent of Police (SP) Bright Edafe, the two shared the same room in the Ugbomoro community and were year-one students of FUPRE. He said they had a disagreement over a pair of bathroom slippers, which snowballed into a fight, adding that neighbours separated them. But a few minutes later, they continued their fight again at the back of the house. This time, the elder one, Fejiro, allegedly stabbed the younger multiple times with a kitchen knife.

“Fejiro Obiere, 21 years old, is a 100-level student of FUPRE, and Joseph Obiere, 19 years old, was his younger brother and also a 100-level student in the same university. They resided off campus.

“Fejiro and his younger brother started a fight over bathroom slippers. Neighbours separated them, but they went to the back of the house to continue the fight. The elder used a kitchen knife to stab the younger multiple times and fled. Fejiro has been at large,” he said.

The police spokesman speculated that either cultism or substance abuse could have been responsible for the action of the elder brother, who allegedly butchered the younger to death.

Since the incident, which occurred last month, there have been appeals to the police to smoke the alleged killer out of his hiding. “Police should bring him out to answer for his actions,” some said.

The police spokesman, in an emotional voice, said it was a very pathetic situation, as the alleged killer would be charged with murder when arrested.

“If the boy is charged with murder, it would be a double tragedy for the parents if he is found guilty,” Madam Felicia, a resident of Ugbomoro, said. (Saturday Vanguard, but headline amended)

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