HORROR IN ANAMBRA

Fear pervaded the air in Anambra State at the weekend when a 22-year-old man, Chidiebele Mmadubuko, went berserk and slaughtered his mother and an uncle. He also stabbed his father and five other villagers.

The tragic incident happened at 11.pm on Saturday at Oraukwu village in Amanuke, Awka-North Local Government area of Anambra State. It was gathered that the culprit was overpowered by an angry mob, who allegedly beat him to death in anger for his murderous act.

Reliable sources told our reporters that the late Mmadubuko started acting strange on Saturday night when he returned to the village from a neighbouring community. He allegedly ordered everybody to put off the lights in their homes and went about with a cutlass, attacking anybody that stood in his way.

According to the source, Mmadubuko first descended on a four-year-old boy, who was on his way to get his parent’s phone where it was being charged, before he went for his mother.

Mmadubuko’s younger sister, Ugochukwu, said their mother was slaughtered while trying to rescue the boy from the hands of her son.

The assailant also descended on Nwakwudo Igwebudu and macheted him to death. His father, Mr. Goddy Mmadubuko, was, however, lucky, as he survived the attack with deep machete cuts all over his body. He was rushed to St Anthony’s Hospital, Isuaniocha for treatment.

No fewer than five other villagers sustained various degrees of machete wounds during the attack.

With tears in her eyes, Ugochukwu narrated her mother’s last moments. “After our dinner last night, my mother and I went to bed. So my phone rang, and it was a call from one guy called Ndubuisi. He said I should come and call my brother to order, that he was talking and acting abnormally. So I woke my mother who now rushed to the scene of the incident, possibly to know what was happening and call him to order. But unfortunately, that was how he killed our mother.”

Ugochukwu said his brother had no record of mental illness, as she wondered why he could behave in such a strange manner. She said he had no criminal records in the town, noting that the tragic incident shocked the entire family.

The father of the assailant, Mr. Mmadubuko, who survived the attack by the whiskers, admitted that his son was smoking Indian hemp while alive. He said he stuck to his smoking habit, in spite of various warnings to stop the habit. He said his late son started causing trouble at Otuocha, Anambra West Local Government Area before returning home to spill blood.

“Our kinsman reported to me that he was called by somebody who informed him that a young man from his town was causing troubles in their community at Otuocha. So he came here with the report. They threatened to call the police but we intervened.

So later on, he collected all the photos in our house and ordered that I should explain to him all the persons in the photos and why they were there one by one. But I said I wouldn’t do that. So we nearly quarrelled about that. So later in the night, my daughter brought to my notice a report that the boy was inflicting machete wounds on the people in the main road. So when I rushed to the scene to assist a small boy he had already macheted, he descended on me, cutting me in the head and other parts of my body,” the old man explained.

He added that the deceased had earlier ordered him to give him his own share of his land so he could move on with his life. He said another area of disagreement with his late son was that he wanted to become a musician, a career which he disapproved of.

“He said he wanted to be a musician which I disapproved of. Then he now diverted that he would go to Yola in Adamawa State where he served his master before to continue business. So, he said we must give him his own share of the land so he could sell and generate money for his proposed business at Yola. I disagreed but after much persuasions and consultations with my children, I yielded to his demand. But instead of going for the business, he ventured into music. And from there, when you talk to him, he would harass you in a harsh tone.”

He continued: “I received reports that he smoked Indian hemp and me and his late mother warned him sternly to desist from such act. I threatened to disown him if he continued. So he vowed to me that he would never smoke it again.”

A Christian cleric, Rev. John Ezike of the Holy Trinity Anglican Church, Amanuke, who assisted in conveying the victims to the hospital, described the incident as pathetic. He said the strange behaviour could not have had any spiritual connection, saying it must have been triggered by an overdose of some hard drugs.

When contacted, the President-General of Amanuke who doubles as the Vice-Chairman of the Peter Obi faction of the All Progressives Grand Alliance, (APGA), Mr. Shedrack Anakwue confirmed the incident, describing it as shocking.

He said: “From the information reaching me, the incident happened around 11pm. The boy that started it, they said the young man was insane, that he has spiritual problem and he first killed his mother before others. he also killed another person who was from the same extended family, from the same Oraukwu. Then the boy was killed, either by himself or some others. I have not got the clear picture of what happened, but I know he is dead already. So we are now calling a meeting of the entire community so we can deliberate on it for a solution.”

He said that the community would henceforth ban both the sale and consumption of cannabis in the area to forestall a recurrence of the incident.

Also speaking, the chairman of Amanuke Vigilante Group, Mr Michael Oraegbuna, said the elders of the community acted immediately they received the information, adding that they were working closely with the police.

When contacted, the Police Public Relations Officer, Anambra State Command, said he was not aware of the incident, promising to get back to the reporters as soon as he confirmed the killings.