A young man identified as Somadina Orji, has been arrested by the operatives of the Enugu State Police Command for allegedly killing his mother, Mrs Charity Orji, and his sister, Miss Ukamaka Orji.
The suspect allegedly buried the deceased in shallow graves in their backyard at Umuagu Inyi, in Oji River Local Government Area of Enugu state.
The 25-year-old suspect, Somadina, who hails from Igbariam in Anambra State, was said to have committed the offence on Monday, December 4, 2023, at Umuagu Inyi, in the Oji River Local Government Area of Enugu State.
According to various reports and videos of the incident, the late Charity, a native of Inyi but married in Igbariam, Anambra State, had been living in her family house with her children for some years.
A community leader in Inyi, Mr Ben Obi, who spoke to some journalists, stated that problems started weeks ago when the suspect had an issue with the younger brother.
He said: “The suspect had wanted to hit his younger brother before Charity, their mother stopped him. She promptly reported the incident to the kinsmen asking them to come and chase him away from the house because he wanted to kill the younger brother.
“Before all this started happening, the younger sister of Somadina was already missing. For two weeks, nobody saw her nor knew her whereabouts.
“We learned that, their mother went for a condolence visit at Akpugoeze, and upon her return in the afternoon, the son, Somadina, killed and buried her in a shallow grave in their backyard that same Monday.
“So, when the younger brother came back and was looking for their mother, he suspected something was wrong and raised an alarm.
Read Also: Nile varsity partners SEC to establish capital market trading lab
“When the villagers gathered at the compound upon interrogation, Somadina confessed that he had killed the mother.
“He also confessed that he killed the missing younger sister some weeks ago.
“The confession alone left the entire village devastated that something like this happened without anyone of us tracing it.”
The community leader also disclosed that when the police were invited, the remains of the mother and the sister were exhumed and deposited at the mortuary, and the suspect was arrested.
He also disclosed that Charity, until her death sold fufu to feed her family.
Also condemning the act, the coordinating president general in Oji River, Mr. Ejike Tasie, said the use of hard drugs in the Inyi Community is alarming, calling on the anti-drug agency in Oji River to help them check the use of these drugs in their various communities in the local government.
Confirming the incident on Sunday, the Command’s spokesperson, DSP Daniel Ndukwe, said the suspect had been arrested and an investigation was still ongoing.
Ndukwe said that immediately after the investigation is concluded, he would be arraigned in court.
He said: “The suspect has been arrested, and the case is under investigation. The suspect would be prosecuted once investigations are concluded.”