Mr Nweke Njoku, a lawyer and an indigene of Ofeh community in Omuma LGA of Rivers State, speaks to BIODUN BUSARI about the suspect who hacked a man to death in the state and how the suspect was apprehended in a neighbouring state
Tell us about yourself.
I’m the Principal Partner of Crescendo Solicitors and Legal Consultants, Port Harcourt, Rivers State.
What was your relationship with the deceased?
I’m the Principal Partner of Crescendo Solicitors and Legal Consultants, Port Harcourt, Rivers State. The deceased was from my community, Ofeh, a larger community in Omuma Local Government Area of Rivers State.
Okay. His home village was Umunwacha village in Ofeh. I’ve known him since almost my childhood. I knew him when we were still very small. This has been more than 30 years.
What kind of person was he?
He was a loving and peaceful man; he was not a violent person. He was also religious and respectful.
What do you think led to his death?
The incident occurred in February. I think the whole thing emanated from a threat or disagreement. From my findings, there was a disagreement of some sort because another family member, who was one of the brothers, told me that there was a time the murder suspect also used a machete on him.
So, that particular matter was not well treated by the community. The murder suspect is a dangerous man. When we visited the wife of the deceased, she couldn’t even give us the whole narration of the issue because she was in shock.
What were you able to gather?
The wife told us that when her husband went for the treatment of his leg because he had a swollen leg, the murder suspect, who was his kinsman, attacked and killed him. The victim was taking local treatment somewhere in the community, and on that day, he went to treat the leg.
Then, when he was coming back on his bicycle, the murder suspect sighted him, ran to his house, carried a machete and chased him. As someone whose legs were not okay, he could not run. At that point, he fell, and the suspect started using the machete on him.
Who was the eyewitness to know what happened?
When the suspect was apprehended, he actually confessed to the police that the machete was his. He confessed he did it.
How many times did he cut him with a machete?
Upon investigation, police discovered that the machete cut injuries were nine. So, he inflicted machete cut injuries on him nine times. He cut him nine times on different parts of his body.
How did the community not come for his rescue?
They lived in the same compound, which was quite different from where other people were living. Their houses were very close. So, when this happened, those persons who were close to the scene were the children of the victim.
These children had nothing they could do but run for help. They were very tender. When they noticed that their father had been killed, they ran away, looking for their mother. No adult was there when this thing happened. It was the children of the victim who were there.
How did the community react to this?
The community did not take it lightly with the murder suspect. The youth razed his house. It was the same day that the incident happened that his house was burnt to the ground. It was not even his house. His house was already paid for by his father.
So, they razed it. What the community did was to mobilise youths and they started searching for the whereabouts of the murder suspect. He had left the state. Luckily, they were able to trace him to a place called Owerre-Nta in Isiala Ngwa South Local Government Area of Abia State.
How many days did it take to find him?
It took 12 days or so.
How about his family?
According to his people, his wife left him because he was a violent man. The wife abandoned him and ran away. So, he was living alone in the house. I heard that he accused the victim of his predicament, which caused his wife and children to leave him.
It was the allegation he levelled against the victim that caused the problem and his eventual death. He said he made his wife run away from their matrimonial home.
What exactly happened to the suspect?
I do not know for now because I don’t have much information about him. But the way he behaves, someone can say that he has a psychological issue.
I learnt the victim was a pastor. Is that right?
Yes. He was a pastor of The Apostolic Church. Even before his death, he lived somewhere in Oyigbo Local Government Area, where his parish was. That day, I think he came back to see his family and perhaps to take treatment on his legs.
What are you doing as a legal practitioner to get justice for him?
Firstly, the community is not in support of that action. Secondly, the youth in the community have had a series of meetings to ensure that the right thing is done in the murder case, to ensure that the deceased gets justice.
So, even though the murder suspect is in police custody, we are doing everything possible to ensure that justice is done in the matter. I’m not the one to file the case in court, but we’ll follow up because it’s a criminal matter.
It’s not a civil case where a private lawyer can file an action. So, what we’ll do is just encourage the prosecution team to ensure that justice is done.
