By Godwin Akomah, Umuahia
UMUAHIA: Over 30 unidentified bodies of suspected ritual killing victims have been found at different times on Imo River in Oriendu autonomous community, Umuahia North local government area of Abia State in the last couple of months.
The traditional ruler of the community, Eze Philip Ajomiwe, disclosed this on Sunday while speaking with a reporter in his palace.
The revelation came after the community discovered the body of a woman in the area.
“The bodies, like the recent one, are either completely naked and without their private parts or in a bag. There’ve also been cases of two decomposing bodies seen beside the NNPC pipeline,” the monarch said, according to Leadership news.
Explaining that there had not been any arrests since then by the security agents, he expressed concern that the situation was getting out of hand and had created fear in and around the community.
According to him, efforts by the community’s vigilante group to arrest the suspects had failed too, because the group is not as equipped as the suspects are said to be.
“So, we’re appealing to the state government to empower the vigilante group with the necessary logistics and the wherewithal to enable it to match the suspects,” he said.
He argued that nobody ever embarks on such a mission with empty hands especially when the enemy is fully armed with sophisticated weapons and is ready to fight back.
He asserted that his complaints about the situation to the agents had been to no avail, noting that the latest was a letter to the speaker of the State House of Assembly on February 7.
The traditional ruler lauded the government for the upward review of monthly stipends of the Ezes, but noted that the amount is inadequate to handle the challenges of insecurity confronting communities.
He maintained that as the monarchs do not have security votes like the governor to equip their communities’ vigilante groups, the communities need the intervention of the government for peace and security.
