A police orderly to a former Speaker of the Imo State House of Assembly, Chiji Collins, has been found dead.
The victim, identified as Charles, an inspector, was abducted by unidentified gunmen last month alongside a driver in Ohaji/Egbema Local Government Area of the state.
He and the yet-to-be-identified driver were reportedly driving in a Hilux Utility Vehicle when they were blocked by the attackers, who abducted them into a nearby bush.
But Mr Charles was found dead inside a bush in Oguta, a neighbouring local government area in the state, on Thursday, PREMIUM TIMES learnt.
The driver was earlier found dead in the same area while the search for Mr Charles continued.
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Sources from the police in the state said the body of the deceased officer had already decomposed upon discovery in the bush
“We are saddened by his death,” a police officer, who asked not to be named, said.
When contacted on Friday, the police spokesperson in Imo State, Henry Okoye, confirmed the incident to PREMIUM TIMES.
Mr Okoye, an assistant superintendent of police, said the Commissioner of Police in the state, Ahmed Barde, had commissioned a team of police investigators to track down the killers.
The police spokesperson assured that the police in the state would ensure that the officer’s killers were prosecuted in line with the law.
Worsening Insecurity
Like other states in Nigeria’s south-east, security has deteriorated in Imo State with frequent attacks by armed persons.
The attacks often target security agencies, government officials and facilities.
Hundreds of people have been killed or injured in such attacks.
The latest attack comes less than one month after gunmen killed Victor Ijioma, the traditional ruler of Orsu Obodo, a community in the Oguta Local Government Area of the state. The attackers also killed the traditional prime minister of Mgbele, the Isama of Mgbele, another community in the same council area.
Gunmen, in April, killed five police officers and a couple in Ngor Okpala Local Government Area of the state.
Three weeks ago, gunmen killed two police officers at Okpala Junction in the same community and council area.
The Nigerian government has accused the outlawed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) of being responsible for the deadly attacks in the region. But the group has repeatedly denied any involvement in the attacks.
IPOB is leading the agitation for an independent state of Biafra which it wants to be carved out from the south-east and some parts of south-south Nigeria.
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