Benin: man killed by nephew in land dispute

A few days after the murder of a nanny in Avrankou, a man was killed in Hêdjamey by his nephew with a machete, following an altercation over the division of family land.

According to information reported by BNEWS, the conflict had been brewing for several months. It pitted two branches of the same family against each other over the use of an ancestral estate that the heirs had never managed to share out consensually.

The nephew, the main suspect in this tragedy, accused the victim and his brothers of having monopolized a portion of the land to the detriment of the other heirs.

On the day of the tragedy, while the victim was on the disputed plot, a violent argument broke out. Tensions quickly escalated. Angered, the nephew struck his uncle several times with a machete, mortally wounding him in the neck. The man succumbed to his injuries before help arrived.

The alleged perpetrator is currently in police custody. A judicial inquiry has been opened to establish responsibility and shed light on the exact circumstances of the tragedy. The victim’s body has been taken to the Dogbo zone hospital morgue for autopsy.