Labourer Kills Civil Servant Three Days To Retirement

Culled From Punch ; The Emereonye family has been thrown into
mourning over the gruesome murder of one of its sons, Mr.
Emmanuel Emereonye, a federal civil servant. It was gathered that
Emmanuel was killed three days to his retirement from the service.
Emmanuel, an administrative officer at the Federal Government
Girls College, Umuahia, was on Tuesday, March 17, 2015,
butchered by a labourer he hired to work for him in his hometown
at Dioka Nzerem village, in the Ehime Mbano Local Government
Area of Imo State. It was gathered that Emmanuel had decided to
build a befitting country house where he hoped to relocate to after
his retirement. He was said to have contracted some labourers to
lay the foundation of the building. The labourers included one of his
godson, Samuel Edomobi. After the day’s job on the fateful day,
for which he had given the labourers their daily wages, it was
learnt that Emmanuel was informed later in the day that Edomobi
had gone to his (Emmanuel) farm to harvest palm fruits. He rushed
to his farm and found Edomobi on a palm tree, harvesting palm
fruits. Emmanuel was said to have ordered Edomobi to get down
from the tree, telling him that harvesting fruits from his farm was
not part of the job he paid him for. An argument ensued and in the
process, Edomobi allegedly used the machete he was using to
harvest the palm fruits on Emmanuel. Emmanuel was said to have
taken to his heels, while Edomobi followed in hot pursuit. He was
said to have caught up with him (Emmanuel) and hit him in the
neck with the machete. Edomobi was said to have left Emmanuel
in a pool of blood. The neighbour that alerted Emmanuel to the fact
that Edomobi was harvesting from his farm escaped from the
scene and raised the alarm. By the time the villagers reportedly
arrived at the scene, Emmanuel had bled to death, while Edomobi
had escaped from the scene. It was gathered that policemen
arrested Edomobi’s mother, which forced the suspect to turn
himself in. Punch Metro learnt that the suspect had been
transferred to the state Criminal Investigations Department, Owerri,
while the body of the deceased had been deposited in a morgue.
Emmanuel’s first child, Chidimma, told our correspondent on
Thursday, during a visit the Emereonyes, that the family had
planned to celebrate its father’s birthday ,which was to be a day
after his retirement, before the incident. Chidimma, who is a
second year political science student of Alvan Ikoku College of
Education, said, “My father was killed three days to his retirement
and four days to his birthday. He was supposed to be 60 by
Saturday, March 21, 2015. We had made plans to celebrate his
birthday and retirement, but all that was not to be.” The brother-in-
law to the deceased, Izuchukwu Ohiaeriaku, said the family
suspected conspiracy in Emmanuel’s death. According to him,
there had been issues on the land where Emmanuel was building
his country home, which was resolved only recently. He said the
house would have been completed, but for the dispute. “Maybe
Edomobi was used to perfect a plot orchestrated somewhere. The
family suspects that what killed Emmanuel may not be far from
the land issue,” he said. Widow of the deceased, Ngozi Emereonye,
said, “I am a housewife with six children. Where do I start from?
His death is a big blow to the family and I cannot recover from it
for the rest of my life.” Meanwhile, a family source, who spoke on
the condition of anonymity, lamented that policemen from the state
CID had been extorting the family under the guise of investigation.
“The police asked us to pay N120,000 for autopsy. That was after
collecting N10,000 for “police photographs”, which is just to take
pictures of the deceased in the mortuary,” he said. The Imo State
Police Public Relations Officer, DSP Andrew Enwerem, confirmed
the incident, saying the suspect would be taken to court once
investigation was completed. On the alleged extortion, Enwerem
said, “The police does not pay for autopsy. Where do you expect
the police to get that kind of money from? “If the family can get
any medical doctor that will charge them less than that amount,
they should bring the person and the police will work with him. The
crime is not bailable, so the suspect will remain in custody until
investigation is completed.”