· Five fresh bodies taken away by Police
By Martins Ezigwe
Contrary to recent newspaper reports, none of the 15 corpses buried at the side of Ezu River has been exhumed for examination by the Police and government pathologists.
Rather five fresh bodies still floating in the River as at last Monday, January 28, 2013 when the team arrived at the River Side in Amansea were taken any to an unknown destination.
Some newspapers had reported that four of the 15 corpses were exhumed, while others wrote that the 15 bodies were exhumed. However a very reliable source close to Amansea Town have categorically stated that no corpse was exhumed.
‘’They turned the soil around where the corpses was buried, but no corpses was brought out and I was looking at the whole thing from where I was’’ the source who was in physical attendance said.
After a while they took away five corpses from the river and went away.
The decision by Anambra State government and the Police to exhume the corpses was based on what media reports described as shocking revelations so far made on the three bodies earlier taken for autopsy.
The authorities did not reveal what the shocking discoveries were, but said that the other 15 bodies to be exhumed would help them reach a conclusion.
It is not clear as at press time what informed the decision not to exhume the bodies, while giving the impression that the bodies have been exhumed.
In another development, a civil rights NGO in the state Anambra Integrated Rights (AIR) has challenged the Police and the Anambra State government to ensure that when the bodies are finally exhumed and taken to another place for burial, the activities should at every stage be witnessed by the media and the member of the public to restore public confidence in the on-going investigation.
Speaking for the organisation in Awka, AIR’s Director of Publicity Mr Pius Ugwumba criticised the state commissioner for health for claiming that bodies had been exhumed when they were not and urged the government to show more transparency in managing this sad development.
By now, there ought to have been one clue or another, if this matter is not to be swept under the carpet,’Ugwumba insisted. To us the only thing that is clear now is that even tough the river flows from Enugu, the current incident took root in Anambra, because no corpse was found on the upstream part of the Amansea bridge, which is the Enugu State side..
About 50 bodies were found floating at various times on the Ezu River, but the Police confirmed recovery of 18, out of which three were taken for autopsy.
