South East Insecurity: Over 50 Decomposing, 20 Headless Bodies Found In Abia Cattle Market

Over 50 decomposing bodies, including 20 headless ones, have been found around the Lokpanta Regional Cattle Market, Umunneochi council area of Abia state.

State governor, Alex Otti, made the disclosure while speaking to newsmen in a media parley in Umuahia, the sate capital, Sunday night. 

According to the governor, the discovery was made in the process of tracing ransom monies paid to kidnappers who made the market and its environs their rendezvous. 

“A few weeks ago, we found that a lot of ransom that was paid for kidnapping ended up somewhere around Umunneochi, and we decided to raid the place.

“During the raid, we made shocking discoveries.

“In less than 48 hours, we recovered over 50 dead bodies around the cattle market in Umunneochi.

“We recovered over 20 decomposing headless bodies-men, women, children! We recovered so many skeletons of people killed," he said. 

He disclosed further that the area has become a centre for all manner of nefarious activities, including gun running.

Following the discovery, the state government, he said, installed electronic surveillance gadgets to help monitor activities in the area. 

“We also discovered that gunrunning, prostitution and so many things were happening in the market.

“So, we realised that the first thing to be done is to secure the market. We went in and brought down many brothels. And we felt that the market, just like any other market, should be a day market which starts in the morning and closes in the evening.”

“We have installed electronic equipment that tells us what is happening in every part of the state.

Governor Otti, who expressed regret over how the market vicinity has become a den of criminals, vowed to ensure that nothing stops the state government from ejecting all residents out of the market, such that it would close at the end of every evening and everybody would go till the following day.

“We also feel that those people hibernating in the market should go and live in the communities. We want to have a peaceful Christmas around Umunneochi and other parts of the state.

“Anybody not supporting this move must be a criminal, and there is no place for criminals anymore in Abia,” he added.

Ongoing campaign against insecurity in the Umunneochi/Isuikwuato axis of the state, he stressed, is beginning to yield fruits as, according to him, his administration was determined to pay the cost of restoring sanity, peace and order in all parts of the state.

He vowed that no inch of Abia State, including where the bodies were found, would be allowed to serve as a breeding ground for criminals.