Three people beheaded in separate family killings in Enugu, Nigeria.

Three people beheaded in separate family killings in Enugu, Nigeria.

NEWS:

Three people were beheaded in two separate family killings in Igbo-Etiti Local Government Area of Enugu State, Nigeria, on May 15, 2026, according to police.

The attacks occurred minutes apart in Nkporogwu Ukehe and Agu-Ekwegbe communities. Police identified the victims as 60-year-old Anikwe Felicia, Nwabuche Eze and Nwabuche's young daughter, Favour Eze.

A fourth person, Joshua Eze, who police identified as the suspect in the killing of Nwabuche and Favour, later died after being severely beaten by residents before officers intervened.

The video published with this article directly records a violent act connected to the case. The footage establishes the attack captured in the recording, but it does not independently establish the identities, family relationships, motive or circumstances surrounding the separate killing that occurred elsewhere in the local government area. Those details come from the police investigation.

Police said officers from the Igbo-Etiti Division responded to the first incident at approximately 00:3:10 p.m. after receiving a report from Nkporogwu Ukehe.

Investigators identified Anikwe Onyebuchi, approximately 40 years old, as the suspect. Police alleged that he used a cutlass to kill and behead his mother, Anikwe Felicia.

Officers recovered Felicia's body and severed head and transported the remains to a hospital. Doctors confirmed her death, and the remains were subsequently placed in a mortuary for preservation and autopsy.

Before police secured Onyebuchi, residents had attacked him.

Police said the mob severely beat the suspect before officers intervened, rescued him and took him into custody. He was transported to a hospital for medical treatment while investigators opened a full investigation into his mother's killing.

Some community-based reports later alleged that the killing followed a dispute over food. Other early claims referred to drug use or psychiatric problems involving the suspect. None of those explanations appeared in the police account located for this report, and no later official material found during the review established them as the motive.

Approximately eight minutes after the first police response, another emergency was reported from Agu-Ekwegbe, also within Igbo-Etiti.

Officers from the police Distress Response Squad stationed at Ekwegbe Junction on the Ugwuagu/Opi/Nsukka Road responded at about 00:3:18 p.m.

Police identified Joshua Eze as the suspect and alleged that he used a cutlass to kill and sever the heads of his sister, Nwabuche Eze, and her young daughter, Favour Eze.

Officers recovered both victims' remains. They were taken to a hospital, where doctors confirmed their deaths, before being deposited in a mortuary for preservation and autopsy.

Police said preliminary investigative findings indicated that Joshua had buried the bodies in a shallow grave after the killings.

Investigators also reported finding a dead white cock buried alongside the victims.

Police said that discovery suggested a possible ritual motive. The presence of the bird and the burial circumstances were part of the preliminary police findings, but no later public investigative result located for this report established that the killings were definitively ritual-related or explained why the bird had been placed with the bodies.

Early reports circulating before the detailed police statement contained conflicting information about the younger victim, with some accounts describing a son or nephew. Police later identified Favour Eze as Nwabuche Eze's daughter, and that identification is used here.

Joshua was also confronted by residents after the killings.

Police said officers found him after a mob had severely beaten him. They rescued him in critical condition and transported him to a hospital.

Doctors later pronounced Joshua dead.

His death brought the total number of people who died in connection with the two incidents to four: the three female victims and Joshua, the suspect in the Agu-Ekwegbe killings.

Police deposited Joshua's body in the mortuary after his death.

Enugu State Commissioner of Police Mamman Bitrus Giwa condemned both killings and ordered the State Criminal Investigation Department to conduct comprehensive investigations into their circumstances.

The commissioner also criticized the mob attacks on the suspects and instructed residents not to engage in what Nigerian authorities commonly describe as jungle justice. He urged members of the public to surrender suspects to law enforcement authorities rather than assaulting them.

The mob violence had different consequences in the two cases. Onyebuchi survived the assault and remained in police custody while receiving medical treatment. Joshua was rescued alive but died after reaching the hospital.

No reliable later public report located for this article established that Onyebuchi had been formally arraigned, convicted or sentenced in connection with Felicia's death.

No published autopsy result located during the review provided additional findings concerning Felicia, Nwabuche or Favour.

The later search also found no public police conclusion establishing a definitive motive for either attack.

In the Agu-Ekwegbe case, the shallow grave and dead white cock remained the basis for the police's preliminary suspicion of possible ritual intentions. They did not constitute a final determination of motive.

News story written by DarkGore.

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