It was a weekend of mourning in some communities in Enugu State as cutlasses were freely used to cut the heads of three female natives.

It was gathered that the incidents took place in two communities in Igbo-Etiti Local Government Area of the state, involving three females – two mothers and a daughter.

It was learnt that in0 the first incident, that occurred at about 3.10pm on Saturday, the 40 year old Anikwe Onyebuchi used a cutlass to behead his 60 year old mother, Anikwe Felicia.

The incident took place at Nkporogwu in Ukehe community.

Sources stated that the young man allegedly used the cutlass on her mother over food. He was said to have returned home and requested for food which the mother was unable to provide, leading to his picking up a cutlass and killed her.

A viral video of the incident which went viral on the social media had seen several natives lamenting the development, with the lifeless body of the woman in a pool of her own blood.

An angry mob who gathered in the scene was seen beaten the young man with several dangerous objects.

In the second incident that took place at Agu-Ekwegbe community also on Igbo-Etiti, Joshua Eze, similarly reportedly used cutlass to sever the heads of his sister Nwabuche Eze and her little daughter, Favour Eze. It is yet to be ascertained why he killed.

The Enugu State Police Command has, however, confirmed both incidents.

The Police said that the corpse of Anikwe and severed head had been recovered and taken to the mortuary and possible autopsy, while the case of Eze and her daughter were killed and buried in a shallow grave alongside a dead white cock, suggesting possible ritual intentions.

Police Public Relations Officer, Daniel Ndukwe, who confirmed the killings added that the intervention of Police officers saved one of the victims from an angry mob.

He said the suspect (Anikwe) was rescued and rearrested from an angry mob that had severely beaten him and was taken to hospital for medical treatment.

He added, however, that the second suspect (Eze) was unlucky, stressing that he died at the hospital after he was rescued from an angry mob that had beaten him to stupor.

“His corpse was equally deposited in the mortuary”, he said.

Ndukwe said that full-scale investigation into the incident has commenced.

He added that the Commissioner of Police, Mamman Bitrus Giwa, has condemned the barbaric acts, ordering the Deputy Commissioner of Police in charge of the State CID to immediately commence comprehensive investigations to ascertain the circumstances surrounding both incidents and ensure necessary investigative actions.

“He urges members of the public to refrain from taking laws into their hands by resorting to jungle justice, regardless of the provocation, and instead promptly report criminal suspects to the Police or other lawful authorities for appropriate action”, he added.

(The Guardian, but headline rejigged)