It was a moment of shock and sorrow in Anambra State on Tuesday when the body of a yet-to-be-identified pregnant woman was found hanging from a cashew tree in the state.
The body, it was gathered, was seen dangling on the tree along Uke-Ideani Road in Idemili North Local Government Area of the state.
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It is unclear, for now, if the pregnant woman committed suicide or was murdered.
Residents, however, told PREMIUM TIMES that the woman must have been murdered and hanged on the tree to give a false impression of suicide.
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One resident, who identified himself simply as Chijioke, said the body was seen in the early hours of Tuesday.
“Before we went to bed on Monday night, we did not see anybody hanging on the tree. So, this must have happened either in the middle of the night or very early this morning,” he said.
“We couldn’t identify the face before some police personnel came and took the body of the woman.”
‘It’s murder’
The Commissioner of Police in Anambra State, Ikioye Orutugu, confirmed the development, according to a statement by the state police spokesperson, Tochukwu Ikenga, on Tuesday evening.
Mr Orutugu said what happened was suspected to be murder, not suicide.
The police commissioner described the incident as unfortunate and a stark example of “man’s inhumanity to man.”
He appealed to both community and local government leaders to assist with information that can aid in apprehending the killers.
The police chief said he had ordered a thorough investigation into the incident.
Novelty
Like other states in the South-east, there have been frequent attacks by armed persons in Anambra State
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Hundreds of people have been killed or abducted by gunmen terrorising residents of the South-east in recent times.
However, the discovery of the pregnant woman hanging from the tree is a novelty in the region.
The outlawed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) has been blamed for the attacks in the south-east and south-south Nigeria.
But the separatist group has repeatedly denied its involvement in the attacks.
IPOB is a group leading agitation for an independent state of Biafra, which it wants carved out from the two regions.
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