Abia Police Command has said that Abia State-bound mourners from Abraka, Ethiope East Local Government Area of Delta State, who were conveying a corpse to the state were kidnapped in Imo State, and not in Abia as being claimed.
The Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO) in Abia State, Mr Geoffrey Ogbonna disclosed that contrary to reports that it happened in Abia, the incident actually happened in a neighbouring town, Ihube, which is in Imo State.
He said the hearse conveying the corpse from Abraka in Delta State to Isuikwuato Community in Abia State was weekend intercepted by suspected kidnappers.
It was gathered that the incident took place around Ihube Okigwe, Imo State axis of the Enugu-Port Harcourt Expressway.
According to the source, armed bandits waylaid the vehicle conveying the corpse and dragged the occupants into the bush, abandoning the coffin in the vehicle on the scene.
A close source to the deceased husband said the abductors whisked the victims including the deceased woman’s daughter, the driver of the hearse and others into the bush, while the woman’s daughter later escaped from the abductors leaving the driver and the other man in the kidnappers’ den.
According to the source, the Divisional Police Officer in Isuikwuato was immediately contacted for their intervention.
The abandoned corpse, the source said was later deposited at the mortuary, “We are devastated.
“They took away the victims into the bush. We have gone to pick up the corpse and we reported it to the police. We want the government to come to our rescue.”
Abia has boundaries with five eastern states, while the forests in Okigwe have been giving haven to gunmen who terrorize both states.