A father, Joshua Obinim, has narrated how his son, Benjamin, attacked him with a knife during a psychotic episode later linked to undiagnosed schizophrenia.
Schizophrenia is a serious mental disorder characterized by symptoms like hallucinations, delusions, and disorganized thinking, which affect how a person perceives reality.
In an interview with Sky News on Monday, Obinim described the terrifying moments when he feared for his life, having initially mistaken his son’s behaviour for a spiritual crisis.
Obinim recounted that blood gushed from injuries inflicted during the attack, and that his elder daughter and wife had also been harmed.
He said,
“When I was lying on the floor, I said to myself, if help doesn’t arrive within a minute, I know I’ll go.
I’ll be dead.“I saw my son outside there, the door of my daughter, with a knife. So I asked, what is going on? And usually, it’s someone who listens to me.
“So I just said, give me the knife. I straightened my left hand.
I held the blade and then he said, don’t try it and when I got out, I saw that our neighbours, both of them, were not here.
“So I crossed over the street, knocking the door hard and shouting, help, help, please call police. We need help.
He just came and met me there and then he cut my head.“So blood was just gushing out.
So I did like this, and then he went into my belly. I didn’t know he had already attacked my elder daughter, and my wife has already been killed.
“I thought I was the first person he was attacking, so I was pleading with him not to kill me, then a neighbour, she came out, I saw her and she was shouting at him, stop, Ben, stop, don’t do that to your daddy, don’t do that to your daddy.
”In the weeks preceding the incident, the family observed unusual behaviour from Benjamin.
As Christians, they initially interpreted his actions as spiritual, adding that he and his wife had prayed for him extensively.“I thought it was demonic attack that he’s got.
He was saying things and saying things and sometimes I tell him, no, this is not what you are saying, it’s not true, this is not that.“
And then he was praying a lot, so I was also praying with him and with my wife, sometimes I pray for him for long hours,” he said.
After his arrest, Benjamin was detained under the Mental Health Act and diagnosed with schizophrenia.
Obinim admitted that he was previously unfamiliar with the condition and expressed regret for not seeking medical attention sooner.“
After his arrest, Benjamin was detained under the Mental Health Act and later diagnosed with schizophrenia.
“I had not even heard of that word, if I knew, I would have taken the initiative, I would have done something about it.
“Because it’s not, you know, praying for someone to get healed doesn’t mean the person doesn’t need medical attention. It’s a regret, it’s a regret.
“If I knew, I would have done both together, both seek the medical attention and also keep on praying for him.
What I would say to him is that he should be able to forgive himself, and he should remember that we have not stopped loving him.
We are forgiving him, so he should forgive himself.”
