Obi: Story of decomposing, headless bodies in Abia reflects scale of insecurity in Nigeria

Peter Obi, presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP) in the last elections, says the story of decomposing, headless bodies from Abia state is a reflection of the scale of insecurity in the country.

On Sunday, while speaking at a media parley, Alex Otti, governor of Abia, said 20 headless bodies and countless human skeletons were found around Lokpanta cattle market in the state.

The market is located in the Umunneochi axis of the Enugu-Port Harcourt expressway.

Obi in a thread on Thursday on his official X page described the development as “barbaric and cruel”.

“I read the bone-chilling story coming out of Abia State, where over 80 bodies were reportedly recovered around the cattle market, with about 20 headless decomposing bodies,” Obi said.

“This level of barbarism and extremely cruel acts only reflects how insecure our environment has been.

“It unearths how insecurity has continued to ravage many parts of the country, taking innocent lives and killing the economy.

“I thank the Abia State Governor, Dr Alex Otti, for taking such a bold step against insecurity in the State. This is highly emulatable.”

Obi further said while he was governor of Anambra, he faced a similar situation.

“I recall facing a similar situation in 2013 as the Governor of Anambra State,” he said.

“I was accompanying President Goodluck Johnathan to an official engagement outside the country when I received the sad report of about 35 decomposing bodies floating on Ezu River, Anambra.

“I had to leave everything to rush back to the State to attend to the situation and ensure that order was restored in the vicinity.

“Investigation was immediately commenced, with autopsies conducted, before the Federal Government took over the process and asked the State Government to hands off.”

Obi added that security of lives and property remains the primary duty of any government and key to any meaningful development.

He called on governments at all levels to make more efforts in tackling insecurity in the country.

“Security of lives and property remains the primary duty of any government and key to any meaningful development we hope to experience as a nation. We must therefore prioritise it,” Obi said.

“I encourage governments at all levels to make more efforts in combating insecurity in the nation.”