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 accused reportedly buried the victims in shallow graves in their backyard at Umuagu Inyi, located in the Oji River Local Government Area of Enugu State.
Somadina, a 25-year-old resident originally from Igbariam, Anambra State, is alleged to have committed the crime on Monday, December 4, 2023, at Umuagu Inyi in the Oji River Local Government Area of Enugu State.
As per accounts and videos of the incident, the deceased, Mrs. Charity, who was originally from Inyi but married in Igbariam, Anambra State, had been residing in her family home with her children for several years.
Mr. Ben Obi, a community leader in Inyi, revealed to journalists that issues arose weeks ago when the suspect had a conflict with his 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.”
“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 revealed that upon police intervention, the bodies of the mother and sister were unearthed and taken to the mortuary, leading to the arrest of the suspect.
He also disclosed that Charity, up until her demise, earned a living by selling fufu to provide for her family.
Condemning the heinous act, Mr. Ejike Tasie, the coordinating president general in Oji River, expressed concern over the increasing use of hard drugs in the Inyi Community. He urged the anti-drug agency in Oji River to address and curb the drug abuse issue in the various communities within the local government.
On Sunday, the Command’s spokesperson, DSP Daniel Ndukwe, confirmed the incident, stating that the suspect had been apprehended, and an ongoing investigation would precede his court arraignment once concluded.
He said: “The suspect has been arrested, and the case is under investigation. The suspect would be prosecuted once investigations are concluded.”