On December 23, Comfort Jiya, a retired school principal, was preparing food at her residence in the Darusalam area of Minna, Niger State, when she was set ablaze by Stephen, her son, after an argument.

Stephen, a drug addict, was said to be based in Suleja, also in Niger State, before he visited his mother’s residence to commit the crime.

“He has been a drug addict for quite a while,” a neighbour, who asked not to be named, told FIJ.

“He had just returned from one of his wild trips to Suleja, where he his partly based. He was always having arguments with his mother. On this fateful day, after one of such arguments, he poured petrol on her while she was preparing food in her kitchen and set her ablaze.

“Despite the attack, she struggled to escape but he wouldn’t let her.”

The neighbour described the late principal as a caring and easy-going person who was instrumental to the educational advancement of many teenagers in Minna.

“He had made several attempts to kill his mother. In fact, there was a time he even demanded for a share of her property,” he said.

“The scariest part is that the woman had tried a lot for him. The private school he runs in Suleja was owned by this same mother he killed.”

The victim was rushed to a general hospital in Minna on Thursday, the day of the attack, but she died, as a result of the third degree burn she had suffered, on Friday afternoon.

Stephen, 38, and father of two children, was immediately arrested by men of the GRA Police Division, Minna.

FIJ made several calls to Wasiu Abiodun, Niger State police spokesman, but they were not answered. A text message sent to him also got no response.