Man kills brother in Rivers over witchcraft allegation

A middle-aged man, identified as Mr. Nwalozie Chiwendu, has allegedly killed his brother, Mr. Chidiebere Isaiah, with a cutlass in a brutal attack.

The incident occurred around 4pm on Thursday in Umunwacha village, Ofeh community, Omuma Local Government Area of Rivers State.

Residents said Chiwendu accused his brother of practising witchcraft and using it to hinder his business success.

The deceased’s body reportedly bore multiple machete wounds, with the suspect currently at large as local authorities launched a manhunt.

Already, the community has launched a search on the perpetrator, vowing to apprehend the suspect and hand him over to the law enforcement agencies for proper investigation.

The Youth President of Ofeh community, Mr Chinonso Favour Chima, who confirmed the incident, described it as a very unfortunate situation.

Chima said, “Yesterday within the evening hours, I got a call from some of my community persons telling me of the sad incident that happened between two brothers of the same compound.

“I cannot tell what happened, but the story is that the younger one carried cutlass and butchered his elder brother like meat and ran away, before the persons that were around in the community could come.

“So, after I received the call, I directed them to quickly rush him to the hospital and I was running down from town to see how we can attend to the matter.

“On my way, they took him to the first hospital, but they could not attend to him, before they could reach another hospital, the man gave up. Because it is a murder case, I told them we cannot deposit him in the mortuary just like that. We then reported it to the nearest Police Division within us here, notifying them of what happened and Police have taken note of it.

“The boy that committed the crime is on the run, we are looking for him. Community has declared a search for him everywhere. We are searching for him to get him so that he can face the full wrath of the law.

“But for now, we have deposited the deceased in the mortuary. I have also tried to address the community and ask everybody to stay calm, we should not take laws into our hands. Let us not cause more panic in the community, we are still talking with critical stakeholders of the community. For now, everything is calm.”

The incident has already been reported to the Police Division in Eberi, Omuma Local Government Area.

Police spokesperson in Rivers State, CSP Grace Iringe-Koko, who confirmed the incident, said the police have launched a manhunt on the culprit in order to bring him to face the law.

She said, “Information at my disposal indicates that the suspect used cutlass to machete the victim to death after accusing him (victim) of witchcraft that made him (suspect) not to prosper.

“The corpse has been retrieved, deposited in the Mortuary and a manhunt has been launched for the suspect with a view to arresting and bringing him to face the law in compliance to the directive of Commissioner of Police, CP Olugbenga Adepoju.”

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