Man kills eight persons with knife in Ebonyi

The Police in Ebonyi state have arrested the machete-wielding man, Simon Ugbala who went on a killing spree murdering 7 people and injuring 4 others.

This is even as one other person died from the attack by the 35-year-old man bringing the total number of his victims to eight.

The suspect had, on Monday in what looks like a mental breakdown, gone berserk and attacked his wife and two children with the machete giving them severe machete cuts which led to their death.

Not done, he entered his Ozibo community in Ebonyi local government area of Ebonyi state and attacked some members of the community with the same machete killing four of them while four others were severely wounded and hospitalized.

He later ran away into the bush as the youths of the community and the Police searched for him.

Following the incident, youths numbering over 200, mounted surveillance in the community throughout the night in conjunction with the Police to prevent a re-occurrence.

The suspect was said to have appeared in the community the next day and attacked more people killing one other person which necessitated the involvement of the Military.

The news of his re-appearance forced many parents to withdraw their kids from schools in the community for fear that he may attack the school

Their combined efforts paid off as he was arrested on Wednesday in the community and handed over to the police.

Police spokesman in the command, Loveth Odah confirmed the incident.

She said the suspect was arrested by a combined team of the Police, Army and the youths of the community.

She said the suspect has been moved to the Federal Teaching Hospital Abakaliki, FETHA, for Psychiatric examination and evaluation at the Psychiatric Unit to ascertain his mental state.

The spokesman urged people to always take people suspected to be mentally imbalanced to the hospital for treatment to prevent such incidents from happening.

“Insane person is no more one person business. When one person is suspected to be insane, the community should come together and take the person away. I think they have a place to stay which is a Psychiatric hospital. It is a place where a suspected insane person is treated”.

“You are talking about disorganizing the community, yes! When eight persons are already dead and others are in critical condition, what do you expect, she said.