Police in Enugu have exhumed three decomposed human bodies buried in
the foundation of a new building site, believed to be a church building
located at the Ugwuaji area of Enugu, along the Enugu/Port Harcourt
Expressway.
The
corpses were
already covered with concrete before they were discovered and exhumed.
Construction of the
building, whose owner was yet to be ascertained as at the time of filing this
report was said to have commenced recently and was still at the foundation
level by the time the police made the discoveries.
Sources told Daily Sun
that the victims could be Keke (tricycle) operators some of whom have been
reported missing of recent.
Another source claimed it
was duri Keke operators that the discovery was made.
A
worker at the site, who got wind of the bodies, was
said to have raised the alarm leading to police investigation and discovery.
The police allegedly
moved in on a tip-off and reportedly mobilised some labourers who dug the
foundation open and exhumed the already decomposed bodies.
Some people who spoke to
Daily Sun expressed shock at the discovery and urged government and security
agencies to ensure that the culprits were arrested and brought to book.
There were further
revelations that the building, which is believed to be a proposed place of
worship was being put up by a suspected ritualist who disguised himself as a
man of God.
The state police command,
through its Police Public Relations Officer, Mr. Ebere Amaraizu confirmed the
discovery and added that the corpses were recovered from the site following a
tip-off.
“Three decomposing bodies
were found and full-scale investigation has commenced with a view to fishing
out the culprits.”
Meanwhile, fear has
gripped residents of Ugwuaji as security operatives were said to have swung
into action to crackdown on the ritualist and his cohorts who killed and buried
the deceased persons.
In 1996, a similar
incident occurred in Owerri, Imo State when police arrested a man, Innocent
Ekeanyanwu, with the head of a young boy, Ikechukwu Okonkwo.
In the course of
investigation, the police traced the buried torso of Ikechukwu to the premises
of Otokoto Hotel, owned by a business man, Chief Vincent Duru, and uncovered a
syndicate which specialised in ritual killing and the sale and procurement of
human parts.
The
horrifying discoveries sparked off violent protests in Owerri, which led to the
burning and looting of property belonging to suspected killers.
Following the protests in
which both the police and the state’s military administration were accused of
aiding and abetting the crime of ritual killing, the state government set up a
panel headed by Justice P.C Onumajuru, to investigate the case.
The panel at the end of
its assignment recommended the trial of the Otokoto syndicate members. The two
sets of trials that went on for many years represented all that the state
military administration had been able to do with the implementation of the
Justice Onumajuru panel of inquiry.
Six years after, the
seven men charged with his murder were sentenced to death by hanging. Those
condemned were Alban Ajaegbu, Sampson Nnomita, Ebenezer Egwuekwe, Rufus
Anyanwu, Lawrence Eboh, Leonard Unaogu and Chief Vincent Duru (a.k.a Otokoto).
-Sun News
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