Community leader hacked to death in Anambra by his kinsmen, his body fastened to block & dumped in river

It was a most brutal killing. And the treatment meted out to his remains was no less callous.

Chukwudi Chinwuba was allegedly hacked to death by persons suspected to be his kinsmen, with whom he had been having a protracted feud. The reporter learnt that after his killing, his wrists and ankles were bound with ropes, while the body was fastened to a sandbag and a concrete block. The body was subsequently dumped in the river.

The 39-year-old man died, leaving behind a wife and four children as well as four siblings. A native of Oroma Etiti Anam, Anambra West Local Government Area of Anambra State, Chukwudi, of the Umunze kindred, was until his death the president-general of the community.

Following a protracted misunderstanding that he allegedly had with his kinsmen, the deceased was reportedly invited to a peace meeting by his uncle, Ogbuevi Anekwe Chinwuba, the eldest man in the family. It was at the meeting that he was brutally killed, the reporter learnt.

The traditional ruler of Oroma Etiti Anam, Igwe Nwaozekwe Okeke, described the killing as a great abomination, adding that the land had been defiled. He said the suspects had been ex-communicated from the community.

“We have duly reported the matter to the police, first at Nzam, the local government headquarters, and later at State CID, Awka. We are surprised that, till now, no arrest has been made. The police kept telling us that they would come today, they would come tomorrow.

If they fail to arrest and prosecute the culprits, they would be encouraging people to take the law into their hands. And that would be very dangerous for the society,” Igwe Nwaozekwe said.

Mrs. Tessy Chinwuba, wife of the deceased, lamented that she had been turned to a widow, and her kids rendered fatherless.

“We have been thrown into hunger and a bleak future. Since the matter started, our crops were wasted, as we were not allowed to go to our farms. I am speechless. I want government to do all within their power to arrest and prosecute the killers. That way, my husband’s spirit will find rest,” she said.

On her Facebook wall, Mrs. Anita Ben-Ekwealor, elder sister of the deceased, alleged that events that preceded the gruesome killing of her brother exposed the identities of the killers, saying the suspects had been dragging the deceased to different police stations.

Chinenye Chinwuba is the younger brother to the deceased, and he has been in hiding since the incident, saying those who killed his brother might come for him.

He told the reporter:

“In April this year, when Oroma Etiti Anam elected members of the town union executive, the deceased emerged as president-general. Since then, he and those who supported him did not know peace. They were regularly beaten up by our kinsmen. They destroyed our property, burnt Chukwudi’s house and stopped him and others going to their farmlands. Chukwudi was lucky to escape with his family to another village.”

He recalled that Ogbuevi Anekwe Chinwuba, the eldest man in the clan, called a meeting to resolve the crisis: “But I was surprised when I saw our kinsmen at the meeting with machetes.

I immediately ran for my life but it was too late for my brother. Some of them told me on phone that my brother would be killed and nothing would happen. I have them on record. We didn’t see my brother again until his corpse was found in the river two days later.”

In the petition to the Inspector-General of Police, it was stated that the alleged killers were well known members of the community.

The divisional police officer at Nzam toldDaily Sun that he was not in the town when the matter was reported.

He said, “It was during the Anambra gubernatorial election and I was at Ihiala. It was when I returned that I learnt of it. The report has been sent to the State CID, Awka.”

The police public relations officer for Anambra State, Nkeiruka Nwode, confirmed that the matter was being handled by the State CID, and admitted that no arrest had been made.

Some residents who pleaded anonymity expressed fear that the police might sweep the matter under the carpet, wondering why no arrest had so far been made.

A resident said: “Someone wrote a frivolous petition and, based on it, some prominent Oroma Etiti indigenes, including Igwe Nwaozekwe, Patrick Udealor and Edwin Nnaemeka, were invited to Abuja for questioning. The petition was diversionary and aimed at misleading the police, yet nothing has been done about the one written by the family.

“Let the police come to Oroma Etiti Anam, the scene of the incident. They will get enough clues by the time they speak to the villagers.”

However, Chibuko Ekwenze, a member of the Umunzu clan, absolved his kinsmen of blame in the incident.

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