Two families – Audu and Idenyemhin families – are currently at daggers drawn following the long battle for the return of a man believed to have fled his abode over alleged attempt on his life.

David Idenyemhin, a native of Uromi, Edo State, was reported to have fled his home in the wee hours of a fateful day towards end of March, 2016 when he reportedly sensed that his end was nigh.

It was gathered that David and one girl, Amina, were in love for some time before things went awry between the lovebirds. An uncle of David, Mr. Kingsley, who spoke with our reporter, claimed that the threat to David’s life compelled him to flee from the community over a year ago and no information about his whereabouts has been received.

Kingsley narrated the genesis of the feud thus: “David was dating Amina to the knowledge of everyone in the area. But trouble started when David came home to inform us that he was having problems with his would-be in-laws.

“He said that Amina came to tell him that she was pregnant one day and that she wanted it terminated because her parents, who are Muslims, vowed never to sanction her marriage to David, a Christian.

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“David told her to keep the pregnancy but the girl refused. But on March 25, 2016, she visited David in his house.  He later narrated to us that after they both had dinner, deep into the night, Amina started complaining of stomach pain. Unknown to David, the girl had, while preparing the food, swallowed a drug meant to help her terminate the pregnancy. He saw the packet of the drug in the back pocket of her knicker.

“While David tried to take her to the hospital, the girl died on the way and the news got to her family fast. The people came to David’s house in large numbers destroying anything in sight. David’s brother, who tried to calm them down, got a knife stab on his neck and he died moments later. They also burnt down david’s family house. They insisted they must kill David who by then had fled the community.”

A family member of the Audus, who craved anonymity, rebuffed the claim that they threatened to kill David. According to the middle-aged woman,  David could not feign ignorance of Amina’s death, “and naturally our family would not take that lightly. Our family knows nothing about the disappearance of David. What we want is justice,” she said.

A police source who spoke with our reporter, but preferred not to be named, said that David’s disappearance has been a surprise to both families, but that investigations into the root cause of the family feud is ongoing.