- Suspected killer husband on the run as youths set house ablaze
BY AGNES NWORIE, ABAKALIKI
A middle-aged man, identified as Amos Akpa, has been killed while trying to settle a quarrel between a couple in Ezekporoke village in Onicha Igboeze community of Onicha Local Government Area of Ebonyi State.
The victim, a motorcycle mechanic, was allegedly shot dead by a man, Sunday Akpa-Nwammahi, who was fighting his wife.
Sunday, a local hunter, was said to have also attacked other peacemakers when they visited his house to resolve his matrimonial issue.
The peace team, comprising the deceased and four youths, was reportedly sent by the village youth leader to the hunter’s house in order to return his wife whom he had sent packing after a fight, but Amos met his untimely and tragic death when the suspect brought out a gun and opened fire on them.
The deceased, a father of three children, is said to be a relation of the suspect.
Findings by The Point revealed that, prior to the tragic incident, there was a problem involving the suspect, his wife and his step brother, identified as Emeka Akpa-Nwammahi during a funeral wake, which was held at Ndiegu area of the community.
While the burial event was on, the hunter allegedly engaged his spouse and brother in a fight, but through the swift intervention of some youths at the venue of the event, the misunderstanding was settled and the aggrieved were advised to refrain from causing further disturbance.
Shortly after, The Point gathered that out of anger, Sunday left the event for his residence, an action which invariably brought normalcy in the area until around 5:30am of the fateful day when the village youth leader, out of magnanimity, directed Amos and three youths to return the woman alongside her brother in-law.
They were to possibly advise all the parties involved in the issue on the need to live in peace without knowing that the aggrieved hunter had a sinister motive.
A member of the bereaved family, Ndubuisi Akpa, told our correspondent that there was no iota of trouble between his late brother and his assailant that could warrant such a dastardly act.
He added that Amos was among the four youth delegates sent to return the woman and her brother in-law home, but unfortunately, Sunday, having noticed the movement of the two motorcycles used by the four men towards his compound, hurriedly went into hiding with his gun.
Ndubuisi narrated that, while the mediators were busy advising Sunday’s wife and her brother in-law to give peace a chance, the hunter suddenly shot from his hideout and killed his relation. Afterwards, Sunday was said to have disappeared into thin air.
“We were together with Amos in our family compound on Saturday night before he left for the wake, but he had not returned from the place before I left home too for Abakaliki the same morning. This was why I found it difficult to believe when I got the information that Amos was killed.
“But after receiving the same story from other relatives, I quickly drove to my house in Abakaliki and notified them that there was a need for me to rush back to the village, only for me to arrive the killer’s compound and found my brother dead,” Ndubuisi narrated.
He expressed dismay at why Amos, who he described as “a promising young man”, was gruesomely killed for being kind and seeking peace.
He appealed to concerned authorities to ensure that justice was done over the incident.
Another resident of the area, Christopher Mbe, explained that the alleged killer-hunter, after fighting with his wife at the wake, also vowed that he would not live with the woman as husband and wife any longer.
He explained that it might have been because of that threat that Sunday decided to hurt the mediators by causing the death of Amos for trying to force the woman upon him.
Mbe said, “While the wake was going on, suddenly, Sunday Akpa-Nwammahi, in his usual manner of engaging in marital crisis, began to fight with his wife without any known cause and along the line, he tore her dress. Then, some of the youths, having felt disturbed over the incident, instructed the hunter to leave the place for his compound.
“The action was taken with the intention to stop further quarrel between the couple without knowing that the same man who the people were trying to restore peace in his home would turn against the empathisers by shooting Amos to death.”
According to Mbe, the alleged killer had tried to resist the people’s intervention, but when he could not withstand the level of persuasion; he decided to hurt them, and in the process killed Amos.
A witness who wished not to be named told The Point that the fight actually started between Sunday and his step brother, Emeka, but after the wife condemned the act, saying it was an embarrassment to the family, the hunter became infuriated and descended on her.
It was gathered that the alleged killer-hunter’s house was burnt down by some aggrieved youths of the village while his whereabouts were still unknown as of the time of filing this report.
