70 Bodies Discovered: Umunnochi Indigenes Say They Were Afraid Since 2022

Governor Alex Otti’s revelation of the findings of security agencies in the forests around Lokpanta Cattle Market in Umunnochi LGA has received support from some natives of the Lokpanta, Isuochi, and Lokpaukwu communities. The governor disclosed during his media chat with journalists on Sunday night that security operatives had uncovered 70 corpses, human skeletons, prostitution, ransom-taking, and narcotics in the area during a raid.

Some residents of Umunnochi LGA, who spoke to some journalists on Monday, said they believed the governor’s report as they had been living in constant fear of insecurity for about two years. A community leader from Isuochi, who gave his name as Michael, claimed that the roads leading to Isuochi were unsafe due to frequent kidnapping activities by hoodlums. He also said that women and young girls were afraid to go to their farms for fear of being kidnapped or raped by criminals.

He expressed his gratitude to Governor Alex Otti for launching a security outfit, Operation Crush, which he said had helped in addressing the unbearable insecurity situation in the area. He lamented that some Isuochi indigenes were kidnapped while travelling in or out of the community by bandits and were only freed after paying huge ransoms. He also alleged that some kidnapping victims died at their homes or hospitals shortly after their release due to illnesses they contracted in captivity.

He further alleged that a prominent in-law in his community who was allegedly kidnapped on his way to Isuochi in 2022 had not been found by his family till date. He suspected that he might be among the decomposed corpses found in the forest.

A native of Lokpanta, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said that they were in fear for two years until the governor took a bold step to tackle the situation. He said, “We lived in fear, afraid to enter our farms. What the governor said about seventy dead bodies may not be far from the truth. We are gradually regaining our voice since the coming of this government”.

Ndu Felimon, from Lokpaukwu, said that people were regularly robbed or kidnapped along the federal highway, especially those travelling at night. He pleaded with Otti to sustain his administration’s war against criminality in the LGA by implementing his plans to make the market a daily one.

A Northern trader, Salihu, also commented on the matter, saying that genuine cattle dealers would never condone or harbour criminals in the market. He added that his members were always ready to assist the state government in flushing out criminals around the market area.