Life for Chiemeriem Benjamin, who had a dream of becoming a banker, has come to a temporary halt as she accidentally killed her childhood friend, Lawrence Oloruntobi, during a minor disagreement.
The incident, which took place at Iba area of Lagos, has opened a scary new phase of life for the teenager, who hails from Abia State.
Chiemeriem told Vanguard: "Lawrence is my friend; we grew up together and have lived in the same environment from as far back as I can remember.
"On that day, I was just not in the mood to talk with him. When I came out in the morning, he tried to make some jokes, which we would ordinarily laughed about. But I told him I was not interested in such.
"I went out later that day and on my way back, I saw him forcing my younger brother to play in a stagnant body of water in front of our compound.
"My brother was crying out for help, because he did not want to be dragged into the water. I quickly walked up to Lawrence to stop him. He took it personal and told me he would slap me.
"Out of anger, I told him that even his mother would not dare slap me. He then went in to get a cane, which has always been his tradition whenever we are having a misunderstanding.
"I also rushed into our room to grab a knife. But my elder brother and a neighbour, called Iya Ayo, intervened and settled the matter."
According to the 17-year-old, Senior Secondary 1 student, "about two hours later, Lawrence came back to meet me, threatening to deal with me. We started exchanging words, which later culminated in a fight.
"I went in and grabbed another knife just to threaten him.
"Unfortunately, while my elder brother, who intervened again, was trying to plead with Lawrence not to fight with me because I am a girl, I angrily stabbed Lawrence in the chest with the knife.
"It was only after my action that I realized what I had done. I started calling out for help because I was very scared.
"Few neighbours, who were around, responded and we quickly rushed him to a nearby hospital, but it was too late. He died.
"Sincerely, I never meant to kill him with the knife. I only wanted to threaten him, but I just do not know how and why I stabbed him."

The case which is currently being investigated by operatives in the homicide section of Lagos State Criminal Investigation Department, SCID, would soon be charged to court.

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