By Kenneth Onuoha
365Daily – Operatives of Ebonyi State Police Command have exhumed decomposing bodies of two young men who were allegedly buried alive in Uduku Igbudu Forest, Agubia Ikwo Local Government Area, Ebonyi State.
The deceased were identified as Silas Nkwuda and Chukwuemeka Nwoba, and were alleged to have been abducted from the area.
Seven persons, led by two native doctors, who are suspected to be behind the dastardly act, have been arrested by the Command.
365Daily gathered that two young men (not those buried alive) had approached a native doctor to prepare bullet proof body charms (Odieshi in Igbo language) for them.
The native doctor whose name was yet to be ascertained at the time of filing this report, was said to have turned the two young men to tortoises in the first stage of the process of doing the charm, but trouble ensued when at the second stage of the charm making process, which was to turn them to lions, failed.
The native doctor, it was gathered, had to embark on an emergency journey, apparently to consult a superior power on how to complete the process, but unfortunately, got drowned on his way returning to his shrine.
Following the death of the native doctor, another native doctor identified as Nwali Nwankwo, was invited to the deceased native doctor’s shrine to covert the two young men who had been turned to tortoises to human beings, but he was unable to do so.
It was further gathered that another native doctor identified as Rose Godwin was invited, but she was also unable to return the two young men to human beings.
Worried by the long absence of the two young men at home for days, their brothers, having gotten the hint of where they went to, decided to visit the shrine to look for them, only to hear that they were missing.
They, however, reported the matter to the police who raided the shrine, and allegedly killed some tortoises, two of which were said to be the two young men, whose whereabouts were still unknown as of the time of filing this report.
It was further gathered that other animals, including monkeys, suspected to be human beings, too, were also killed during the raid by the Police Operatives.
The Police also arrested some suspects in the shrine who were said to be the boys of the native doctors and have since charged them to court and were remanded.
Angered by the arrests, the two native doctors, Nwali Nwankwo and Rose Godwin, were said to have gone on reprisal by allegedly abducting the four young men who reportedly invited the police for the raid on April 12, 2021, to pressurise their relatives to withdraw the case against their boys in court.
However, two out of the four abductees escaped from their abductor’s den, while the remaining two were allegedly buried alive at Uduku Igbudu forest in Agubia community, in lkwo LGA of the state, where their bodies were later recovered in a shallow grave by the Police.
The Police Public Relations Officer in the State, Mrs Loveth Odah, explained that preliminary investigations confirmed that those who would have been buried alive by the native doctors were four but two managed to escape.
Mrs Odah further explained that when the remains of the victims were exhumed, their eyes were blind folded while ropes were tied to their necks.
The police spokesperson also disclosed that autopsy had been conducted on them to ascertain how they were killed.
In a related development, the State Police Command has arrested a 24-year old woman, Favour Oko, a native of Afikpo North Local Government Areaof the state, for allegedly killing a 3-year old son of her co-wife.
The suspect, according to the State Police image maker, DSP Loveth Odah, committed the crime because her husband stopped paying her any attention after he married the mother of the slain boy.
Oda said the suspects would be arraigned in court after conclusion of investigations.