The Imo State Police Command in Owerri has directed the Divisional Police Officer (DPO), Ezinihitte Police Division at Itu in Ezinihitte Mbaise LGA to transfer to the Homicide Department , Owerri the case of a palm wine tapper who allegedly hacked his wife to death with a plank.
The state’s Police spokesman, Orlando Ikokwu, who confirmed this in a telephone chat with Daily Trust said that the DPO at the Police station, Itu Ezinihitte, had been directed to transfer the case file to Owerri for further investigation.
Daily Trust recalls that tragedy struck at Umuoduku village in Oboama Autonomous Community, Ezinihitte Mbaise LGA of Imo state when a palm wine tapper, Mr. Richard Anochirionye, alias ‘Okpoka’, allegedly hacked his wife to death with a plank last Friday.
A source said that trouble started on Friday morning when the man had a serious misunderstanding with the wife over a yet-to-be established matter prompting the wife to use a plank to hit the man repeatedly on his mouth with a persistent threat to kill him.
However, Daily Trust was reliably informed that the man later waited patiently till all his male children went out and he reportedly tricked his daughter by sending her on an errand before allegedly attacking the wife with the plank.
A source said that upon returning from the errand, the daughter saw her mother’s corpse on the ground and raised the alarm which attracted villagers who rushed to the scene of the incident and eventually invited the policemen that arrested the suspect.
A police source described the incident as “very pathetic family matter” and revealed that the community members wanted to intervene and see how they could handle it “but because alleged murder had occurred the matter seems beyond them.”
Meanwhile, the woman’s corpse has since been deposited in the mortuary at a neighbouring community, Ibeku in Aboh Mbaise LGA of the state.
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