It was a tale of woes as a mad man beheaded four siblings, matcheted three others and committed suicide last Tuesday at Ebiriba II community in Ahoada West Local Government Area of Rivers State.
The mad man identified as Eligwe Okechukwu allegedly struck his first son to death while his wife who could not bear the gory scene absconded with her other children. He paraded the community with lethal weapon attacking residents and hung himself shortly after the tragic drama at about 10.00pm that fateful night.
Narrating the ordeal, a community woman who prefer anonymity said, trouble started when Eligwe butchered his elder brother Mr Modhiochukwu Okechukwu in a fight last Monday.
Arresting the tensed situation, the source said, some youths of the community got hold of him, tied him with a rope and placed him under lock and key in his own house.
According to the source, Eligwe went berserk, as his wife let him off the hook after several hours of the punishment. He armed himself with a carpenter’s bar which he used to attack the villagers.
Our source maintained that the insane barged into the house of Mr.Akin Chukwutu, father of the deceased children only to hit the unsuspecting minors with the bar resulting in their instant death, adding that he used a cutlass he saw in the room to cut off their heads which he carried in bucket to his house.
The Tide also learnt that Eligwe also hacked down Mr. Peter Green on his way back home. Green was comatose when he was whisked to a clinic for treatment at Ahoada.
Meanwhile, the tragedy has compounded in the grief stricken Ebiriba II community.

Agimo, Emenike Benson