An Abia State resident, Uchechukwu Uchegbu, is in police custody after he allegedly assaulted his father, Emmanuel Uchegbu, during a long-standing property dispute, an incident the family says preceded the elderly man’s death.

PUNCH Metro learnt on Thursday from a family member, Chinedu Uche, that the conflict began when the suspect allegedly tried to convert a family land for personal use, a move his father resisted. The disagreement reportedly escalated into repeated assaults over the years.

Uche alleged, “He started suddenly having money and began forcefully claiming lands that were meant to be shared among my father and his siblings. He even decided to build a house on one of the lands that had not yet been divided, which made my father furious.

“The land he claimed shares a boundary with my father’s property. He tried to encroach on my father’s land, but my father refused. That’s where the dispute started. On several occasions over the years, he allegedly beat up his father, destroyed his properties, and threatened to seize his father’s house, claiming that because he had money, he could take it over.”

According to the family member, the final alleged assault occurred on January 1, 2026, when the suspect reportedly attacked his father with a cutlass, leaving him critically injured. The elderly man was rushed to the Federal Medical Centre, Umuahia, where he remained hospitalised until his death on January 31.

Uche said the suspect was briefly arrested after the January 1 incident but was released, only to be re-arrested following his father’s death.

Confirming the incident, the Abia State Police Public Relations Officer, Maureen Chinaka, said the suspect is in custody and that an investigation is ongoing.

“Yes, there is a case under investigation at the State Criminal Investigation Department. The suspect has been apprehended and remains in our custody while the investigation continues,” she said. (PUNCH)

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