The presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP) in the 2023 elections, Peter Obi, has reacted to stories of decomposing and headless bodies allegedly discovered in Abia State, saying they are a reflection of the scale of insecurity in Nigeria.
The state governor, Alex Otti had, while speaking at a media parley on Sunday, said over 20 headless bodies and countless human skeletons were found around the Lokpanta cattle market located around the Umunneochi axis of the Enugu-Port Harcourt expressway.
While reacting to the purported find in a series of tweets on his official X account on Thursday, the former Anambra State governor said he was shocked to read about the strange find which he described as “barbaric and cruel”.
“I read the bone-chilling story coming out of Abia State, where over 80 bodies were reportedly recovered around the cattle market, with about 20 headless decomposing bodies,” Obi wrote.
“This level of barbarism and extremely cruel acts only reflects how insecure our environment has been. It unearths how insecurity has continued to ravage many parts of the country, taking innocent lives and killing the economy.
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“I thank the Abia State Governor, Dr Alex Otti, for taking such a bold step against insecurity in the State. This is highly commendable.”
Obi went on to say he faced a similar situation while he was governor of Anambra.
“I recall facing a similar situation in 2013 as the Governor of Anambra State.
“I was accompanying President Goodluck Johnathan to an official engagement outside the country when I received the sad report of about 35 decomposing bodies floating on Ezu River, Anambra.
“I had to leave everything to rush back to the State to attend to the situation and ensure that order was restored in the vicinity.
“Investigation was immediately commenced, with autopsies conducted, before the Federal Government took over the process and asked the State Government to hand it off.
“Security of lives and property remains the primary duty of any government and key to any meaningful development we hope to experience as a nation. We must therefore prioritise it.
“I encourage governments at all levels to make more efforts in combating insecurity in the nation,” he said.