Gruesome Murders in Enugu
The police in Enugu State last week, discovered three decomposing bodies securely buried in the foundation of a new building site and arrested a nursing mother for killing her new born baby boy. Christopher Isiguzo writes that the police authorities are w
Monday, January 25, 2016 will remain indelible in the hearts of residents of the sleepy community of Ugwuaji in Enugu South Local Government Area of Enugu State for the most bizarre reasons. It was a day the people of that area woke up to behold the gory pictures of three decomposing human bodies reportedly buried in the foundation of a new building site in the area situated very close to the Enugu-Port Harcourt Expressway.
Aside the decomposing bodies, lying very close to the site were also skeletons of two persons and skull. This unsavoury development clearly sent jitters down the spines of not just the residents of the area but anxious passersby and travellers who equally struggled to catch a glimpse of the very graphic pictures in the midst of sea of heads that thronged the area.
Perhaps, the most bizarre angle to the entire story was when it was discovered that the building under construction is said to be a church site. Indeed the scene reminiscent the inglorious Otokoto saga that hapoened in Imo State in 1996.
It would be recalled that 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).
However, in the present scenario, it was gathered that a labourer at the site had alerted the police of his discovery at the place which prompted the security operatives to invade the place culminating in the unearthing of the sad development.
The corpses were already covered with concrete before they were discovered and exhumed by labourers recruited by the police.
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.
Already, the Tricycle Riders’ Association, popularly knowns as “Keke Riders” has identified three of the victims as their members.
Speaking when he led the executive members of the association on a condolence visit to the Enugu Central Mosque at Asata Enugu, Chairman of the union, Comrade Ikah Benjamin Ejiofor described the gruesome murder of the keke riders as “most wicked and despicable”.
He gave names of the victims as Babangida Sale, Ashahabu Dauda and Ismahil Abdulahi.
Some people who spoke to newsmen 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, DSP. 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.”
It was also gathered that security operatives have swung into action to crackdown on the ritualist and his cohorts who killed and buried the deceased persons.
Meanwhile, the chairman of the Tricycle Riders’ Association, Comrade Ejiofor, who was moved to tears, described the killing as most barbaric and against the principles of life.
According to him, “our members are rendering very important service to the society and it is so bad that the same people we are serving should turn back to treat us this way.
“We are grieved so much over this colossal loss and that is why we are here to commiserate with the Hausa community in Enugu. We are indeed in this tragedy together; we are so much pained.”
Giving insight into the incident, he said the Keke riders left their different units on Saturday but never returned, adding that “a search party was later organised and that is the result of what we saw on Monday.
“At this moment, our plea to security agents is that this evil should not go un-punished; no stone should be left untouched in a bid to bring the perpetrators of this dastardly act to book.
“We cannot categorically say whether they were killed for ritual or not, because even their tricycles have not been found; so, we are leaving that aspect for security agents”.
Aside the decomposing bodies, lying very close to the site were also skeletons of two persons and skull. This unsavoury development clearly sent jitters down the spines of not just the residents of the area but anxious passersby and travellers who equally struggled to catch a glimpse of the very graphic pictures in the midst of sea of heads that thronged the area