A suspected labourer have been arrested for the murder of a civil servant~~SEE PHOTO

Mr. Emmanuel Emereonye, a federal civil servant was killed three days
to his retirement from the service.
Emmanuel, an administrative officer at the Federal Government Girls
College, Umuahia, was on Tuesday, March 17, 2015, butchered by a
laburer he hired to work for him in his hometown at Dioka Nzerem
village, in the Ehime Mbano Local Government Area of Imo State.
Firstclass newsline gathered that Emmanuel had decided to build a
befitting country house where he hoped to relocate to after his
retirement.
The victim was said to have contracted some labourers to lay the
foundation of the building. The labourers included one of his godson,
Samuel Edomobi.
At the end of the day's job on the fateful day, for which he had given
the labourers their daily wages, it was gathered that Emmanuel was
informed later in the day that Edomobi had gone to his (Emmanuel) farm
to harvest palm fruits. He immediately left for his farm and found
Edomobi on a palm tree, harvesting palm fruits.
The victim was said to have told Edomobi to get down from the tree,
telling him that harvesting fruits from his farm was not part of the
job he paid him for. An argument ensued and in the process, Edomobi
allegedly used the machete he was using to harvest the palm fruits on
Emmanuel.
Emmanuel was said to have taken to his heels, while Edomobi followed
in hot pursuit. He was said to have caught up with the victim and hit
him in the neck with the machete.
The suspected labourer was said to have left Emmanuel in a pool of
blood to die. The neighbour that alerted Emmanuel to the fact that
Edomobi was harvesting from his farm escaped from the scene and raised
the alarm.
Emmanuel had bled to death before any assistant could get to him,
while Edomobi had escaped from the scene.
It was gathered that policemen arrested Edomobi's mother, which forced
the suspect to turn himself in.
A source learnt that the suspect had been transferred to the state
Criminal Investigations Department, Owerri, while the body of the
deceased had been deposited in a morgue.
The victim's first child, Chidimma, said on Thursday, during a visit
the Emereonyes, that the family had planned to celebrate its father's
birthday ,which was to be a day after his retirement, before the
incident.
The lady, who is a second year political science student of Alvan
Ikoku College of Education, said, "My father was killed three days to
his retirement and four days to his birthday. He was supposed to be 60
by Saturday, March 21, 2015. We had made plans to celebrate his
birthday and retirement, but all that was not to be."
Izuchukwu Ohiaeriaku,The brother-in-law to the deceased, said the
family suspected conspiracy in Emmanuel's death.
There had been issues on the land where Emmanuel was building his
country home, which was resolved only recently. He said the house
would have been completed, but for the dispute.
It might that Edomobi was used to perfect a plot orchestrated
somewhere. The family suspects that what killed Emmanuel may not be
far from the land issue," he added.
The wife of the victim, Ngozi Emereonye, said, "I am a housewife with
six children. Where do I start from? His death is a big blow to the
family and I cannot recover from it for the rest of my life."
A family source, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to firstclass
newsline crew said that policemen from the state CID had been
extorting the family under the pretence of probe.
Firstclass newsline learnt that the police asked the family of the
victim to pay N120,000 for autopsy. That was after collecting N10,000
for "police photographs", which is just to take pictures of the
deceased in the mortuary," he said.
Andrew Enwerem, State imo Police Public Relations Officer, DSP
confirmed the incident, saying the suspect would be taken to court
once investigation was completed.
Allegation of extortion, Enwerem said, "The police does not pay for
autopsy. Where do you expect the police to get that kind of money
from?
"If the family can get any medical doctor that will charge them less
than that amount, they should bring the person and the police will
work with him. The crime is not bailable, so the suspect will remain
in custody until investigation is being completed.
Firstclassnewsline.net