Peter Obi, the Labour Party presidential candidate in the 2023 general elections, has condemned the incident that took place in Abia State, where 50 decomposing corpses, including 20 headless ones, as well as countless skeletons, were discovered by security operatives during a raid of the forest around the Lokpanta Cattle Market.
The one-time governor of Anambra State has called on the government at all levels to make more efforts to combat insecurity in the country.
In a post shared on his X handle on Thursday, Obi wrote, “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.
“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.
“I recall facing a similar situation in 2013 as the Governor of Anambra State.
“I was accompanying President Goodluck Jonathan to an official engagement outside the country when I received the sad report of about 35 decomposing bodies floating on the Ezu River in 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.
“Security of lives and property remains the primary duty of any government and is key to any meaningful development we hope to experience as a nation. We must therefore prioritise it”
