Dead bodies of three children discovered inside car in retired police officer"s house


NSUKKA-----The dead bodies of three children have been reportedly found inside a car in a retired police officer's house at Ugwu Ogede in Itchi, Igbo-Eze South Local Government Area of Enugu State.

The lifeless bodies of the three children whose names were given as Chibugo Eze, Chinenye Eze, and Ebuka Ene, had gone to fetch water at a commercial borehole located at the home of a former police officer, Fabian Ogbu, but did not return home alive.

Earlier, two other children, Kingsley Eze, and Mmasichukwu, were rescued from the same car and rushed to the hospital where they were resuscitated.

The parents of the children had raised alarm when their children who had gone to fetch water from the borehole at about 8am on Sunday did not return home as usual.

It was learned that amid the confusion and panicking, the parents of the five children raised search parties who ransacked every corner of the community but could not find the missing children.

The traditional ruler of the community and Chairman of Igbo Eze South Traditional Rulers Council, Igwe Ike Oke, who spoke to reporters confirmed the development, describing it as "mysterious."

Oke also, said that he mobilised personnel of vigilante and Forest Guard groups who joined in the search of the missing children before three of them were found dead.

His words, "We were almost frustrated in our search when a community member who went to fetch water heard the voice of a little child calling her name. She traced the voice to a car that had been parked for over six months in the compound of the ex-police officer where she discovered the children and raised the alarm.

"We found three of the children already dead by the time we opened the car. I think they suffocated to death because the car doors were stiffed when we tried to open it at first but we engaged an artisan who forced it open.

"One of the two children rescued said they went to fetch water but didn't meet anyone at the borehole because the owner and the entire members of the family had gone to church service.

"He informed us that they were about going home when three hooded men came from a hill beside the scene of the incident and abducted them into the car and left. He said they were all dressed in red cloths. He also said that the hoodlums returned at the middle of the night to take them away but they couldn't open the car doors because they were stiff.

"We are still investigating the incident and the dead victims have been deposited in the mortuary. The owner of the house has been arrested by police." 

The youth leader of Nkalegu Obukpa community where two of the victims hailed from, Ifeanyi Eze, also confirmed the report, pointing out that the news as shocking.

Exe said that the stakeholders in the community were working assiduously to unravel the circumstances which led to the mysterious death of three out of the five victims of the purported abduction.