Maths teacher kills 83-year-old uncle over land dispute

A mathematics teacher is blaming the devil after killing his 83- year-old uncle over a plot of land in Enugu State .
The suspect , Mr. Daniel Ekemezie , aka Bakassi , is a teacher in Ukpata Community Secondary School , in the Uzo-Uwani Local Government Area of the state .
Ekemezie , a father of two , had been engaged in a long- running land dispute with his uncle , Mr . Patrick Odoh .
Both men are natives of Ukpata community, in the Uzo-Uwani area of Enugu , where the incident happened.
It was gathered that around 8 pm on March 4 , 2017 , Ekemezie abducted his uncle , Odoh , after waking him up from sleep .
He was alleged to have gagged Odoh and tied him to a tree in a forest .
The octogenarian was abandoned in the forest until March 8, 2017 , when Ekemezie, having discovered that he was dead, allegedly buried him in a shallow grave .
Confirming the development , the Public Relations Officer , Enugu State Police Command, Mr. Ebere Amaraizu, said Ekemezie was arrested by operatives of the Anti- Kidnapping Unit.
The police spokesman said the teacher owned up to the crime after he was arrested .
He said, “According to the suspect , he had left for his uncle ’s place with the intention of killing him in order to settle their age -long family land dispute .
“ He disclosed that on getting to the place , he woke up his uncle and informed him that he had an issue to discuss with him.
“ When his uncle woke up, he tied his mouth with clothes to stop him from shouting and whisked him quietly to the Iyimkpafu /Ofiakputu Forest at Ukpata , where he tied Odoh to the tree with a rope and left him there until March 8 , 2017 , when , according to him, the victim had given up the ghost .
“ Ekemezie further disclosed that on noticing that his uncle had died, he hurriedly buried him in a shallow grave and fled .
“ The Enugu State Police Command, through its operatives of the Anti- Kidnapping Unit, acting on intelligence information, promptly nabbed the suspect ,.”
Following Ekemezie ’s arrest, his uncle ’s remains were recovered from the shallow grave .
Amaraizu said the teacher led police operatives to the location of the grave .
The mathematics teacher , who spoke with our correspondent , blamed the devil for his action.
He also declared his readiness to surrender the disputed land to his late uncle ’s son , if he was pardoned.
He said, “I want to tell people to run from issues about land disputes because they can lead to loss of lives .
“ I want the son of late Pa Patrick Odoh to forgive me and even take the land ; I am ready to leave the land for him.
“ I regret my action; it was caused by the devil .
“ I recently lost my wife and I am left alone with two kids. God please help me.”
The police said the suspect would be charged to court at the end of investigation .
Source.. Punchng