OWERRI—Palpable confusion and apprehension have gripped the sleepy rural Umuariam community in Obowo Local Government Area of Imo State, following the alleged murder of 47-year-old Madukaku Oguh by his elder brother, Aligwekwe Oguh.
An eyewitness account had it that the alleged assailant, who butchered his younger brother with a sharp cutlass, disappeared from the community thereafter.
It was also gathered that the deceased had a frosty relationship with his elder brother and wife before the incident occurred.
A villager, who claimed that she witnessed the ugly incident as it played out but spoke on strict grounds of anonymity, recalled that Aligwekwe’s wife, Mrs. Linda Oguh, was seated at the entrance to the family compound, when Madukaku returned from work.
The eyewitness said: “Linda accused her brother in-law of looking at her suspiciously and started raining abuses on him. An obviously embarrassed Madukaku called her to order, but she continued the tirade.”
The eyewitness, a female, said when Madukaku could no longer withstand the insult, he allegedly brandished a small knife and threatened to use it against her, if she continued to abuse him.
“Aligwekwe, who was close by, dealt cuts on his brother with a machete,” the woman recounted.
The deceased was said to have ran away from his brother, but could not go far because of the flow of blood.
She said: “He slumped and started gasping for breath. Some sympathizers arrived at the scene and rushed him to a nearby hospital. He died not long after.”
The assailant’s wife, who spoke to journalists later, expressed regret over the act, even as she described it as “the handiwork of the devil.”
Efforts made to reach the Police Public Relations Officer, Mr. Andrew Enwerem, before going to press failed as his phone was switched off.
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