A grieving mother, Mrs Edith Alum, has narrated how her two sons, Chukwudi and Onyekachi Alum, were shot dead by youths involved in a bitter leadership crisis in the Umuchigbo-Nike community of Enugu East Local Government Area.
Speaking tearfully in an interview, Mrs Alum said her sons went to work on the community farmland on October 29, 2025, unaware that violence would erupt that day.
According to her, the killing was not a communal clash, but an attack linked to two rival youth factions fighting over the community’s chairmanship position.
“They went to the farm as usual. They did not belong to any group. But some angry youths stormed the farmland and shot them. I don’t know who I offended,” she said.
Chukwudi, 38, a businessman with two children, was her first child; Onyekachi, 31, was her third child and a student.
Although over 100 people were reportedly on the farmland that day, Mrs Alum believes her sons were singled out.
She said the community chairman and the traditional ruler of Nike had visited to console her and assured her that the killers would be apprehended.
She also heard unconfirmed reports that the leader of the youth group allegedly behind the attack had been arrested, but she has been too overwhelmed with condolences to confirm the details.
Mrs Alum, who is a mother of six, now has four surviving children.
A close associate of the community chairman, Chinedu Emmanuel, said the violence stemmed from bitterness after the chairmanship election.
According to him, the chairman’s opponent had wanted to secure the seat through influence rather than a proper election.
When he failed, he allegedly resorted to violence.
“The position is important because the chairman manages community affairs and handles all negotiations with the government,” he explained.
Emmanuel claimed the attackers were mostly cultists who mobilised over 100 men armed with guns from nearby areas including Emene, Coal Camp, Obiagu, and Ogbohe.
He said the chairman’s opponent was arrested at the airport while attempting to flee, but the actual attackers had fled.
He added that the brothers were deliberately targeted to inflict emotional damage on the chairman, who was closely related to them by marriage.
Emmanuel also revealed he had previously been kidnapped by the same group earlier in the year and only released after a negotiated ransom of N10 million.
Another relative of the deceased, Tony Ugwu, said the brothers were killed because they supported the community chairman, who is married to their sister.
He confirmed the farmland is community-owned and accessible to all, though overseen by the chairman.
He said the chairman’s rival had earlier threatened that no one should work on the land, adding that the killing was the culmination of long-running hostility.
Eyewitnesses, according to him, said the attackers arrived in a large group of about 100 and shot Onyekachi first.
Chukwudi was gunned down while attempting to carry his brother to safety.
Ugwu commended the chairman for urging calm to prevent reprisal attacks, noting that the situation could easily have escalated.
He added that while there were rumours of arrests, only the police could confirm the details.
