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Tragedy has hit Nkerefi community in Nkanu East Local Government Area of Enugu State following the killing of four female farmers by one of the labourers hired to work in the farm.
According to BBC News Igbo, the incident happened on Tuesday, June 20, 2023, while the women and others were working in their farms.
It was gathered that the killer labourer was among the three young men hired from Ezza in Ebonyi State to work in a rice farm by a woman in the village.
It was learnt that while the woman and dozens of others were working in their various farms, the three young men were busy working at the portion they were hired for.
According to a villager, David Ani, trouble started after the woman who hired the labourers gave them food around 12 noon to eat and rest before they continued their work.
“It was after the three men had finished eating that the killer labourer excused himself to go to toilet. But, this man remained in the bush for over 30 minutes, thereby raising suspicion among his colleagues that he might have gone to take hard drugs (loosely known as mkpurummiri),”Ani narrated.
He added that true to their suspicion, the young man emerged from the forest and began to charge like a bull and descended on the women with his machetes.
“He instantly killed four women and severely wounded two others. Even the efforts by the two other labourers to stop him yielded little results as he was menacingly attacking the women
“After killing the women, he ran away from the forest. When we heard about the tragedy, we made announcement through the town crier for everyone to look for the assailants. But he was nowhere to be found up till this moment,” Ani stated.
He noted that it must have been the hard drugs that the young man consumed while in the forest that damaged his brain to perpetrate the crime.
The traditional ruler of the community, Igwe Luke Ogbu expressed shock over the attack.
“I can tell you that this young man who committed this atrocity is well known here. Though, he is a stranger but everyone knows him. Nobody has ever had any altercation of any kind with him in the community before this incident.
“So, henceforth, we will come all out against crystal meth (mkpurummiri) and begin to know the kind of people coming into this community. This tragedy will make us to have another look at things happening here and strangers coming here too,” the monarch said.
Spokesman for the State Police Command, DSP Daniel Ndukwe, who confirmed the incident, stated that investigation is ongoing.
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