By Charles Igbo
Owerri, Imo State, was gripped in shock Thursday when the body of a man, obviously a kidnap victim, was discovered, tied to a tree. He was tied to the tree and tortured until he breathed his last in pain and of starvation.
The grisly and heart-stopping discovery was made in a forest in the State Capital by Men of the Nigerian Hunters and Forest Security Service, NHFSS, Imo State Command.
Four other bodies, one a female, were also discovered. At least, two of them had so decomposed and dried that they were unrecognizable. There may be more bodies as the forest, just opposite the Federal University of Technology, Owerri, was littered with slipperses and shoes and wears.
The men of the NHFSS were on an operation to comb the forest which is along Avu and Ihiagwa Road when they made the discovery.
The operation followed intelligence reports of the deadly activities within the forest opposite FUTO, along the road which connects Avu and Ihiagwa.
A video which showed the men while they were on operation has gone viral, and Owerri is gripped in shock.
The NHFSS undertook the operation with about 50 officers and men who were led by the State Commander, Dr. Fabian Iwuoha.
Out of the five decomposing bodies, one was of a woman and the others, men.
Dr. Iwuoha told Reporters in Owerri that he and his officers and men embarked on the operation following intelligence information received that the forest opposite FUTO, along the Avu/Ihiagwa has become the den and abode for kidnappers.
His words: “Immediately the Command got the Intel, we contacted Abuja Headquarters and the Technical Services for logistics.
“Once we got clearance from the Commander General of the Service, Dr. Wole Joshua Osatimehin and logistics provided by the Deputy Commander General, Technical Services, Amb John Metchie, we immediately mobilised over 50 Operatives on Hilux Vans and moved to the forest.
“However, there was no gun encounter because the criminals have left the place maybe long before our arrival.
“However, we want to state that as long as crimes that are planned and executed in the forests are concerned, officers and men of the NHFSS are ready to flush out all the criminals and make the forests very hostile for the criminals to operate from.”
For long, not a few people had suspected that the FUTO axis (Avu, Obinze, Ihiagwa, Eziobodo) is den for kidnappers.
