Igwe Peter Onuoha

An arrested suspect in the murder of Peter Onuoha, the traditional ruler of Nkerefi, Nkanu East LG in Enugu state, east of Nigeria, has confessed about the motive during interrogation by the police.

“The suspect said they committed the crime because of the actions of the traditional ruler in their community”, according to Ebere Amarizu, the spokesman of the Nigerian police in the state.

“The monarch was violating human rights by killing people and throwing them into the river as well as forcefully collecting pieces of land belonging to helpless people,” the suspect, identified as Sunday Agbara Edwin, said.

Amarizu said that the suspect confirmed that some youths had organised themselves and unleashed their anger on the monarch and his supporters.

The spokesman quoted the suspect as saying, “I was not the one that fired the two gun shots on the day the victims were killed. I had only machete with me.

The monarchs, along with some of his supporters were on July 11 murdered in cold blood by hoodlums numbering about six.

A statement signed by the command’s spokesman, Mr Ebere Amarizu, said the suspect was arrested at Ebu Village in Illah in the Oshimili Local Government Area of Delta.

He said that the suspect, is a mason from Mgbaraocha Umuokpala Community in Nkerefi.

Amaraizu said that the suspect was arrested through intelligence gathering, adding that he had confessed to committing the crime along with others now at large.