George Okoye has allegedly beaten his sister-in-law, Nkiru to death over property.
It was gathered that the suspect, Mr George Okoye, has been arrested and currently in the police custody, but the whereabouts of his wife, Mrs Uzonna Okoye, twin daughters, and son, Somtochukwu Okoye, were still unknown.
The family of Okelue, Nkiru’s relative has vowed to take the law into their hands if nothing is done quickly to get justice for their sister and in-law (Emenike) whose five teenage children have been left to suffer.
Mr Emenike Okoye on sick bed, said he was at home on July 19, preparing for work, while his late wife (Nkiru) was preparing to travel home (Abba) for a meeting of Umuada (Daughters of her kindred), when his elder brother (George) led his wife (Uzonna) and their three children to his house around 6am to 8am and beat him and his wife for no reason.
“We did not do anything. I was preparing for work, my wife was preparing the children for school and to also travel home for a meeting of Umuada. George and his wife, Uzonna and their son, Somtochukwu, and twin daughters invaded my house around 7am on July 19. They overpowered us, beat us to stupor, and left. Later when my children had gone to school, they returned with some persons and dangerous weapons, including axe.
“They dragged my wife outside the house, hit and killed her with axe and chair. She fell and died. When I resisted their move to drag me outside too, they broke my hand with an axe, dragged me outside; hitting me with the axe all over my body until I passed on. You can see the cut on my eyes. They left me thinking that I was also dead. But God helped me to woke up later. I reported the incident to our local vigilante and they drove me to hospital,” he recounted.
Emenike said:
“George right from when our mother (Mrs Adaoba Okoye) was alive, said he was our landlord. He is not our first born but he claims ownership of the entire compound and always fight with all of us. My wife was not even married when this crisis started. And we had our three children abroad.
“It was when the company where I was working folded that I returned home. And we had our last two children here (in Ogbunike). So, she had nothing to do with this. Why killing her for nothing? The crisis led to the death of our mother and our eldest brother. He reported us to the kindred, and our property was shared, with him taking the larger part. I took mine without complaining. Later, he started laying claims to the route to my house.
“He reported me to our kindred but it was settled to my favour. He disagreed and kept on troubling me to stop taking the road. When I made a perimeter fence, he pulled it down, and even reported me to the kindred. I left it. A member of our kindred, Onwa, later intervened and wanted to pay him N500,000 to hands off the portion so that he will also build perimeter fence to separate both of our houses. He agreed but when it was time to start the construction, he rejected the offer.”
There has been tension in Ogbunike community, Oyi Local Government Area of Anambra State, following this sad incident. A source said Okoye is currently recuperating at Isaac Chira Memorial Hospital and Maternity, Awkzu, Oyi local government area.
