Two brothers have been arrested by the Police in Anambra State for allegedly killing three members of same family over bitter kola tree and buried them in a shallow grave.

The incident, it was gathered took place at Ukpor, Nnewi south local government area of the state.

Police Public Relations Officer, Tochukwu Ikenga, said that Emmanuel Nwabueze Nnaekezie (33 years) and his elder brother, Clement Nnaekezie (69 years), allegedly murdered the three members of same family and disappeared.

He gave the names of the victims as Robert Nnakezie (male, 67 years), Ikechukwu Obi (male, 14 years), and Ukamaka Efione (female, 2 years), who was reportedly visiting during the school holidays.

Ikenga did not state when the gruesome murders took place. He however, disclosed that the two suspects were arrested at various locations in the state.

“Acting on intelligence, the operatives trailed and apprehended the suspects in different locations: Oba and Ukpor respectively”, he added, stressing that their arrested followed credible information on the sudden disappearance of the victims.

He said that the suspects during interrogation confessed to the crime and led the Police to the site where the victims were buried in a shallow grave.

The remains of the victims, he said have been exhumed and deposited in a morgue for autopsy, adding that preliminary investigations showed that the heinous act may have resulted from a dispute over the ownership of a bitter kola tree and other inherited parcels of land.

He said the Commissioner of Police, Anambra State Command, Ikioye Orutugu, has strongly condemned the act, describing it as barbaric and unacceptable and assured the public that the Command remained committed to ensuring that justice was served on the matter.