The Abia State’s command of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps has arrested two men, Chibuike Anibuife and Jonathan Nwogu, allegedly caught with a dead baby girl in a sack. Parading the suspects, the state’s Commandant of NSCDC, Mr. Andy Dateer, said they were arrested by NSCDC men on patrol at Ariaria Junction, Osisioma near Aba. He explained that the suspects were intially intercepted by some residents who wanted to lynch them after the discovery of the corpse of the little girl, who was said to be about three years old.
The commandant said the NSCDC whisked the suspects away to prevent them from being lynched by the mob. He said, “The people were attracted to the suspects following a sharp argument between them and another man. The man, however, escaped when he sensed that the residents had become suspicious of them. “The mob was infuriated by the strange content of the sack and demanded explanations from the men, but their failure to provide satisfactory answer made the mob descend on them.
“They will be handed over to the police for proper investigation. The NSCDC men only rescued the suspects from the angry mob so that the truth of their mission could be unravelled.” Our correspondent, however, learnt from a NSCDC source that the suspects insisted that they were contacted by the father of the deceased child to help him bury the corpse. According to the source, who pleaded anonymity as he was not authorised to talk to PUNCH Metro, on the incident, the suspects later took NSCDC operatives to a hospital in Aba where the corpse was allegedly given to them to bury.
The source said a nurse at the hospital admitted that the girl died while receiving treatment. It was learnt that the request by the security agents to see the doctor in charge was turned down and the NSCDC operatives were said to tactfully withdraw from the hospital without arresting the nurse or the doctor for fear of being attacked. Anibuife, however, denied any involvement in the death of the baby, saying he never knew the other suspect, but had only intervened when the crowd wanted to lynch him. But Nwogu said a man had approached him and begged him to help him bury his deceased child in a site where he was working.
He said the man paid him N2,000 and later drove him to the hospital where they took the corpse for burial. He denied being a ritual killer or kidnapper, adding that he only accepted to bury the corpse because he was looking for money.