BLOOD IN THE HOMESTEAD: THREE KILLED IN SEPARATE FAMILY SLAYINGS ACROSS IGBO-ETITI LOCAL GOVERNMENT AREA

Grief and deep shock settled over Igbo-Etiti Local Government Area of Enugu State on Thursday, May 15, 2026, after two separate and horrifying incidents of domestic killing unfolded within minutes of each other in two different communities. Three people, all female, lost their lives to cutlass-wielding relatives in what security operatives described as among the most disturbing cases recorded in the area in recent years. The Enugu State Police Command confirmed both incidents in an official statement released on Sunday, May 17, 2026, through its spokesman, Daniel Ndukwe.

The first incident occurred at approximately 3:10 p.m. at Nkporogwu, a community in Ukehe, when a 40-year-old man identified as Anikwe Onyebuchi allegedly used a cutlass to behead and murder his 60-year-old mother, Anikwe Felicia. Operatives attached to the Igbo-Etiti Division responded promptly to distress reports from residents, arriving at the scene to find the lifeless body of the elderly woman. The corpse and severed head of the deceased were recovered and taken to the hospital, where doctors confirmed her dead, after which the remains were deposited in the mortuary for preservation and autopsy.

Sources within the Ukehe community told reporters that the killing was reportedly triggered by a dispute over food. The young man allegedly returned home and requested food which the mother was unable to provide, leading to his picking up a cutlass and killing her. The claim, while unverified by the police at the time of their official statement, was widely circulated among community members who said the suspect had shown signs of erratic behaviour prior to the incident. A video that circulated on social media captured the lifeless body of the woman lying in a pool of blood, while an angry mob gathered at the scene and descended on the suspect with dangerous objects before security operatives intervened and took him into custody.

Barely eight minutes after the first incident was reported, at approximately 3:18 p.m. that same afternoon, tragedy struck again. This time, it was at Agu-Ekwegbe community, also within Igbo-Etiti Local Government Area, located along the Ugwuagu/Opi/Nsukka Road. Operatives of the Command’s Distress Response Squad stationed at Ekwegbe Junction responded to a distress call alleging that one Joshua Eze used a cutlass to sever the heads of his sister, Nwabuche Eze, and her little daughter, Favour Eze, at Agu-Ekwegbe community. The motive behind this second killing remained unclear as of the time of filing this report, with police investigations still ongoing.

Unlike the first case where the suspect was apprehended alive, Joshua Eze did not survive the aftermath of his actions. The suspect was rescued from an angry mob in a critical condition and taken to the hospital, where doctors later confirmed him dead. His corpse was equally deposited in the mortuary. The killing of a mother and her young daughter in the same brutal manner deepened the anguish across communities in the local government area, with many residents expressing disbelief that two such incidents could occur within the same council area on the same afternoon.

Community voices have called on government and security agencies to investigate what is increasingly seen as a growing pattern of domestic violence in the Igbo-Etiti axis. Social media influencer Chijinkem Ugwuanyi, who was among the first to publicise both incidents online, expressed deep concern over what he described as a disturbing wave of violence threatening family structures in the area. Some accounts from the second incident also alleged that the bodies of Nwabuche Eze and her daughter Favour were buried with a white cock at the scene, a detail that has stoked community fears of ritual undertones, though neither the police nor hospital authorities have confirmed this officially.

The Enugu State Police Command has confirmed that investigations are active and ongoing. Spokesman Daniel Ndukwe called for calm while assuring residents that the Command would bring full findings to light. The three deaths within one afternoon, each carried out by a blood relative, have left Igbo-Etiti mourning a darkness that no community expects to find within its own homesteads.