VICTOR AYENI writes about the recent stabbing to death of a 14-year-old British-Nigerian in London, Daniel Anjorin, and the challenge posed by the wave of knife-related crimes in the United Kingdom
On the morning of April 30 in London, the bustling streets were filled with the usual cacophony of sounds—the honking of cars, the chatter of pedestrians, and the distant rumble of the underground.
In Hainault, a large suburban area in North-East London, 14-year-old Daniel Anjorin, full of hopes and dreams, was on his way to Bancroft’s School in Woodford Green, which he attended.
But a few metres from his home, the British-Nigerian teenager was attacked from behind and pushed to the ground by an irate sword-wielding thug, now identified as a Spanish-Brazilian national named Marcus Monzo, according to the BBC.
As Anjorin lay on the ground, Monzo, who was armed with what appeared to be a Samurai sword, stabbed the boy in the chest.
Despite the best efforts of police officers and ambulance teams, Anjorin died in a hospital later that morning.
In a space of about 30 minutes, four other people, including two police officers, were wounded in the attack. The Telegraph reported that the suspect had earlier rammed a van into a house before he began prowling the streets and attacking victims at random.
The 22-minute attack, which was filmed and uploaded to social media by witnesses, was said to have begun just before 7 am.
Footage of the incident posted on X (formerly Twitter) and sighted by our correspondent, showed officers confronting a restless Monzo clad in a yellow jumper and holding a sword.
The Metropolitan Police Service said the officers arrived within 12 minutes of the first call and the police had used a kind of pepper spray and a Taser on the suspect, which did not stop him.
Two officers were then attacked, suffering serious injuries, and would need long-term treatment to recover, the force added.
Monzo fled before eventually being surrounded by other officers in Thurlow Gardens where he was overpowered with a Taser. He was then arrested and taken into custody.
Although the police said they believed the attack was not targeted or terror-related, the tragic incident has reportedly sent shockwaves of fear and grief across Hainault.
Daniel’s family told Sky News he was “a wonderful child” who was “well loved” and “hard-working” and that his death “leaves a gaping wound in the family”.
They added, “No family should have to go through what we are experiencing today. Any family will understand it’s an absolute tragedy.”
Bancroft’s School’s flag has been flown at half-mast following the incident in Hainault. The school disclosed that Anjorin had been a pupil there since age seven and they were “devastated by the heartbreaking news”.
“He was a true scholar, demonstrating commendable dedication to his academic pursuits. His positive nature and gentle character will leave a lasting impact on us,” the school said.
Separately, the school where Daniel’s mother works, Holy Family Catholic School, also issued a statement urging the community to pray for Mrs Anjorin, her husband and their other children.
Suspect charged, eyewitnesses speak
On Thursday, Monzo appeared at the Westminster Magistrates’ Court where the prosecutor, David Burns, described a series of “horrific offences” the suspect allegedly carried out, according to a BBC report.
Monzo was charged with two counts of attempted murder, two counts of causing grievous bodily harm, aggravated burglary, and possession of a bladed article.
The court heard Monzo crashed a van into a fence at about 7 am on Tuesday, hitting a member of the public. He then got out of the van and threatened to kill the man and slash his neck with the sword.
Burns told the court Monzo broke into a nearby home where a couple were asleep with their four-year-old daughter. He allegedly went into the bedroom and attacked the child’s father, shouting about believing in God and causing injuries to his neck and arm.
Monzo was also accused of running up behind Anjorin who was walking to school, and attacking him before stabbing him in the chest as he lay on the ground.
The court heard police officers arrived and tried to help the teenager before Monzo appeared from a bush which led the officers to chase him.
Monzo was also said to have jumped out at a female officer and attacked her with the sword while she was on the ground, leaving her with arm wounds described by police as “horrifically serious,” the court heard.
The chief magistrate, Paul Goldspring, said Monzo was due to appear at the Old Bailey on May 7 if a hearing was not available on Friday.
Some eyewitnesses at the scene of the attack pulled out their phones and recorded the incident as it happened.
In one video which showed what appears to be a body in the street, a stunned resident filming could be heard shrieking, swearing, and saying, “He just killed that boy. He just killed him right outside my house!”
Speaking to the BBC, a woman who described her fear as she hid from the suspect, said, “We were very scared and trying to hide and not show ourselves through the window because he was standing right next to our house. He could have seen us if he looked up.”
Other Nigerians victims
There have been several other cases of Nigerians and British Nigerians who were fatally stabbed to death in different attacks across the United Kingdom, especially in London.
Last month, a British-Nigerian residing in London, Okechukwu Iweha, was fatally stabbed by a suspect who was later identified as Leandro Kaienga. The body of the 46-year-old was found outside Tottenham Hotspur stadium with several stab injuries.
That same month, on April 4, a British-Nigerian teenager who resided in Manchester, UK, Prince Walker-Ayeni, was fatally stabbed on Raby Street.
Three teenagers, all aged 16, have since been charged with the murder of the 17-year-old who was killed a few days before his 18th birthday.
In March 2023, a Nigerian-born music manager in the UK, Emmanuel Odunlami, was stabbed to death for a fake luxury watch worth £300,000 after he left an upmarket restaurant in London.
Three robbers who were tipped off by a security guard at the store, chased Odunlami, stole his Patek Philippe Nautilus believing it was the genuine article, and stabbed him in the heart.
In May 2021, a 40-year-old Nigerian man, Tunde Fadayomi, was also stabbed to death in Willesden, North London, in the presence of his son.
Reacting to the Hainault sword attack, the Prime Minister of the UK, Rishi Sunak, on his X handle on Tuesday, wrote, “This is a shocking incident. My thoughts are with those affected and their families.
“I’d like to thank the emergency services for their ongoing response and pay tribute to the extraordinary bravery shown by police on the scene. Such violence has no place on our streets.”
However, a UK-based Nigerian data analyst, Fola Omileye, told Sunday PUNCH that the government’s response towards knife crime had been less than admirable.
Omileye said, “Sunak said such violence has no place on our streets and I found that interesting. The question is what have the PM and the city mayor done to deal with these knife crimes? And this is not just a London problem, it’s a nationwide menace. In fact, if you live in some areas here, it’s almost a weekly or even daily issue. The question is, why are these suspects not facing harsher sentencing?”
The data analyst said instead of dishing out the same platitudes, the authorities needed to start looking at how they would address the root causes of the crimes.
Omileye said there had been several calls for the government to curb the accessibility of the weapons online adding that “the conservative party has cut down on police funding and that has resulted in officers being unnecessarily injured and even killed too. This is why the discontent against this violence dovetails into politics; there needs to be a change.”
An epidemic of knife attacks
Findings by Sunday PUNCH revealed that the latest attack in Hainault came as new figures showed that knife crime in London had hit a record high, overtaking the previous peak in 2019, when there was also a surge in murders.
According to official statistics, knife crime increased in London by 20 per cent in 2023, with 14,577 offences — one per cent lower than pre-pandemic levels in the year (2019) to March 2020.
In England and Wales, there was a seven per cent increase in knife crime to 49,489 offences, with most (29 per cent) in metropolitan areas, the Office for National Statistics said.
A December 2022 report by First Post noted that “London has reportedly become the knife crime capital of the United Kingdom after data revealed that over 13,000 incidents were reported here in just 12 months, highest among all cities.”
It added, “According to crime survey data released by the Office for National Statistics, 49,991 non-fatal knife crimes were recorded across England and Wales between October 2021 and June 2022. This means around 136 incidents occurred per day.”
The report further stated that Westminster had the highest rate of knife-related offences per capita in London, while Bromley, Kingston, and Richmond upon Thames had the lowest rates.
Also, data by the Daily Mail showed a 16 per cent rise in knife crime between 2022 and 2023, with 12,786 offences reported in London. In 2017, the Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, first implemented a knife crime strategy to tackle the epidemic, vowing to “divert young people at highest risk of offending and victimisation away from a life ruined by crime”.
To this end, a UK police initiative to tackle knife crime, Operation Sceptre, took place from November 13 to 19, 2023, and 13,272 knives were removed from streets across the UK while 970 suspects related to knife crimes were arrested.
However, in the wake of the attack that left Anjorin dead on Tuesday, anti-knife campaigners argued that these efforts had failed to curb the availability of deadly swords for people intent on inflicting carnage.
The chief executive of the Ben Kinsella Trust, Patrick Green, told The Telegraph that there were “more and more” swords and long knives on the streets which were “far too easy to get hold of”.
“It is incredibly easy to go online, buy one of these weapons – and they’re not expensive – and have them delivered the following day, with little or no age verification,” he added.
The trust, set up after 16-year-old Ben Kinsella was stabbed to death in 2008, has called on the government to extend the upcoming ban on zombie knives to include swords.
Commenting on the rate of knife crime, a UK-based Nigerian tech researcher, Oluwole Babalola, told our correspondent that the Hainault incident highlighted the need for a broader strategic approach to public safety.
According to him, it was clear that mayors of individual cities should not be the only ones addressing knife crime and public safety as they were national issues that required coordinated action from the Home Office and bipartisan support in Parliament.
Babalola said, “The top goal in our society needs to be safety; it’s time for a drastic change in how we protect the people who live in our cities and those who visit them. We need to use technology and implement more stringent policies; the police should use modern AI technology to improve their capabilities.
“Suspects can be swiftly identified with facial recognition systems and tools for predictive policing can be deployed to identify and stop possible hotspots for crime. AI-powered surveillance is better able to keep an eye out for odd activity in public areas. These technologies are necessary for a proactive approach to public safety and crime prevention.”
