Man Allegedly Kills Brother's Wife in Anambra over Ownership of Property

An Anambra State indigene, Mr. George Okoye, from Ogbunike in Oyi Local Government Area on Sunday allegedly killed his younger brother's wife over a protracted tussle on ownership of a property. Okoye allegedly led his wife and children into his brother, Mr. Emenike Okoye's compound to beat him and his wife, Mrs. Nkiru Okoye, resulting to the death of Nkiru. Emenike, who, however, survived, sustained a broken hand, a fractured waist, and an injured eye from the beating, and was still recuperating in a hospital. The physically-battered man, who spoke to journalists from his hospital bed, narrated the incident that led to his 40-year old wife's death on July 19 with tears, saying he was only abandoned by his brother and the thugs they brought because they thought he had died. Though the suspect, Mr. George Okoye, has been arrested and currently in the police custody, the whereabouts of his wife, Mrs. Uzonna Okoye; twin daughters and son, Somtochukwu Okoye, who participated in the beating, were still unknown. Emenike, while narrating the story of his wife's death, said: "We did not do anything. I was preparing for work that day, and my wife was preparing the children for school and to also travel home for a meeting in Abba, Njikoka Local Government Area, where she is from, when George and his wife, Uzonna, and their son, Somtochukwu, and twin daughters invaded my house around 7a.m. to 8a.m. "They overpowered us, beat us to stupor, and left. Later when my children had gone to school, they returned with some persons who wielded dangerous weapons, including axe. "They dragged my wife outside the house, beat and killed her with axe and chair. She fell down 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 until I passed out. "You can see the cut on my eyes. They left me, thinking that I was also dead. But God helped me, I woke up later. I reported the incident to our local vigilante and they drove me to the hospital." The father of five begged for help and justice against his elder brother, who he said has been at logger heads with the family over property for several years. He said: "George, right from when our mother (Mrs. Adaoba Okoye) was alive, said he is our landlord. He is not our first born, yet he claims ownership of the entire compound and always fights with all of us. "I lived and worked overseas, but when the company where I was working folded, I returned home. We had our first three children overseas, and our last two here (Ogbunike). "My wife had nothing to do with this. Why killing her for nothing? After we returned home, trouble started. The crisis led to the death of our mother and our eldest brother. He reported us to the kindred, and our property was shared, as he took the larger part. I took mine without complaining. Later, he started laying claims to my house. "He reported me to our kindred but it was settled in my favour. He disagreed and kept troubling me. When I laid dwarf perimeter fence, he pulled it down, and even reported me to the kindred again." Meanwhile, the Anambra State Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), Tochukwu Ikenga, said he was aware of the incident, stating that investigation on the matter had already commenced, and is still ongoing.