Abia police say 28 human skulls, bones recovered from forest camps

The Abia State Police Command said it dismantled suspected criminal camps in the forests of Umuaku and Nneato in Isuochi and recovered 28 human skulls and bones.

The command disclosed the development in a statement provided to media outlets. According to the police, the operation was conducted on Saturday and was intelligence led.

The operation involved officers from the Violent Crime Response Unit, the Anti-Kidnapping Unit, the Anti-Cultism Unit, the Intelligence Response Unit, the Rapid Response Squad and the Isuochi Divisional Police Station, the police said in the statement, as reported by Channels Television and Daily Post.

In a press release quoted by Daily Post the police said, “Upon arrival of the command’s tactical operatives at the camps, the suspects fled. The criminal camps were subsequently dismantled. A total of twenty-eight (28) human skulls and bones, suspected to be those of kidnapping victims, were recovered. Investigation is ongoing, while monitoring of the area continues, and efforts are intensified to apprehend the fleeing suspects.”

The Police Public Relations Officer, DSP Maureen Chinaka, disclosed the recovery when the command briefed the media, Daily Post reported. Channels Television also ran the command’s account, saying operatives moved to bush-comb the suspected camps but that the occupants fled on sighting security personnel.

Commissioner of Police Wilfred Afolabi, the statement said, ordered intensified investigations and a crackdown to track down those who escaped. The command urged residents to assist by reporting suspicious activity to the nearest police station, the release added.

Both media reports said the sites are in the Umunneochi Local Government Area. The accounts published by Channels Television and Daily Post are drawn from the Abia State Police Command’s statement to the press; the publications attribute the details to the command’s public relations office.

The police said monitoring of the area continues while investigators follow up leads. No independent verification of the recovered remains or of arrests was provided in the statements carried by the two outlets.