Ifeanyi Ezinwa Paul a 29 year old revenue collector from Umueri strangled his relative Ebuka Illoegbunam, a 19 year old provision shop owner because of a loan of #100,000 he collected from him and could not meet up with the agreed time of repayment.
According to the suspect who first raised a false alarm that he and the victim where attacked by armed robbers before foul play was suspected and he confessed while in police custody, He lured Ebuka into a bush in Umuleri, Anambra State, and strangled him to death. According to him: “Two years ago, my kinsmen invited me to come and work for the community.
My duty was to serve as a revenue collector for the elderly men in the community. We have market days and everyone was expected to drop a certain amount of money.
It was going well, but I became greedy and spent part of the money I had collected on behalf of the community. I knew I would lose my job if anyone noticed the shortage.
It was out of desperation that I approached Ebuka, who owns a provision store in our village. He was my relative. I borrowed N100, 000 from him, with a promise to refund by January, 2021, but couldn’t meet up.
Following threats by the deceased to report me to the king, I decided to kill him. I cannot explain the devil that entered my head. My family and kindred should all forgive me. What happened was the handiwork of the devil.”
