Human heads found in Onitsha hotel

There was a shock find in Onitsha, the
Southeast commercial city, yesterday.
Three fresh human heads were found in a
hotel. They were discovered by policemen
after a raid.
Eleven persons, suspected to be kidnappers or
ritualists were with the heads, kept in a
polythene bag.
The policemen who smashed the syndicate
were deployed from the office of the Inspector
General of Police, on special duties.
The three heads were allegedly those of two
women and a man. Also recovered from them
were two military AK47 rifles and two
magazines. An Infinity Sport Utility Vehicle
(SUV) belonging to the owner of the hotel
marked DA203FST, two army caps, 40 rounds
of live ammunition and many cell phones were
also recovered.
The hotel was demolished by officials of the
state government last night in accordance with
the policy of the government. The demolition
operation was code named Nzacha.
The Police arrested six female and five male
suspected to be employees of the hotel, and
the owner of the hotel, Chief Bonaventure
Mokwe (Obiridike-Akanani). They are already
being interrogated.
The Policemen acted on a tip off that human
meat was being sold in the hotel.
Anambra State Police spokesman Emeka
Chukwuemeka, a DSP, confirmed the incident
and said the police have intensified a manhunt
for other members of the syndicate.
The upper class hotel is located at the bank of
the River Niger near the popular Ose-Okwodu
market.
The Commander 302 Artillery Cantonment
Onitsha, Col. T.A. Gagariga, said the recovery
of the military regalia did not mean that
soldiers were involved. He said such regalia
could be procured in the Onitsha market.
‘’I am not aware of this particular case but my
official reaction would be when I get the
official police report on the issue, then I
would be able to make an official report on the
military apparel and where it emanated from.”
Onitsha Area Commander, Mr. Benjamin
Wordu, said the suspects and the recovered
items have been transferred to the Special
Armed Rubbery Squad (SARS), Awkuzu, for
further investigation.
An eye witness, a vegetable seller at the Ose-
Okwodu market, opposite the hotel where the
suspects were arrested, said she had raised the
alarm over the criminal activities in the hotel
before the incident, but nobody listened.
Her words: “Each time I came to the market,
because the hotel is very close to the market, I
always noticed some funny movements in and
out of the hotel. So I was not surprised when
the police made this discovery in the early
hours of yesterday.”
A pastor who was among the early callers at
the Onitsha Area Command who did not want
his name in print, said: “I went to the hotel
early this year, after eating, I was told that a
lump of meat was being sold at N700, I was
surprised. But I did not know it was human
meat that I ate at such expensive prize”
Southeast Campaign for Democracy (CD) chair
Dede Uzor A. Uzor, urged the police to ensure
that investigations are carried out unhindered.
The Civil Liberties Organization (CLO) said
those behind it should be unravelled.