UMUAHIA—Tragedy struck in the sleepy rural community of Umuokwe, Umuhu Ezechi in Bende Local Government Area of Abia State last week as a young man said to be in his early 30s, Ahamefula Mba, was beheaded by his kinsman, Chinedu Okorie.

The incident was said to have happened at the village stream, where he had gone to fetch water.

Late Mba, said to be a relation of the former Commissioner for Lands in the state, Chief Paul Chikezie, was reported to have squatted to fetch water from the stream when his assailant came from behind and chopped off his head.

The suspect, Okorie, is said to have gone into hiding since the incident as both the community and the police have been on his trail.

According to a source in the community, the suspect bought a new machete and sharpened if for seven days without those around him knowing what he needed it for.

Mba’s headless body was discovered by children who went to the stream and raised alarm, which attracted the attention of the villagers, who immediately began searching for the suspect who the children saw before he made his escape.

Unable to track down Okorie, angry youths in the community were said to have gone on rampage, destroying the home, farmland and other economic trees of the suspect’s family.

A source in the community said the suspect had recently been behaving strangely and was even said to have bought a machete previously, which he sharpened for days before it was taken away from him.

He was, however, said to have bought another machete with which he killed the victim.

The source said: “We never knew that he had gone out again to buy another machete and we got to know that he had been sharpening the machete for the past seven days prior to committing the dastardly act on the late Mba.”

State Police Public Relations ASP Geoffrey Ogbonna, an Assistant Superintendent of Police, confirmed the incident, saying the command was intensifying efforts to track down the fleeing suspect.