The Nigeria Hunters and Forest Security Service (NHFSS) has discovered five decomposing bodies, suspected to be victims of kidnapping, in a forest in Owerri, the Imo State capital.
A source, who sent the video of the discovery to our correspondent in Owerri, stated that officers and men of the NHFSS, Imo State Command, found the bodies during an operation.
The operation was initiated following an intelligence report about nefarious activities in a forest opposite the Federal University of Technology Owerri (FUTO), along the road connecting Avu and Ihiagwa.
The NHFSS, numbering over 50 officers and men, was led during the operation by the State Commander, Dr. Fabian Onyewuchii Iwuoha.
According to the narrative in the video, of the five decomposing bodies, one was a woman, while the others were men. The narrator said that one of the deceased men was tied to a tree and likely left to die, as his body had already dried up.
When contacted by phone, State Commander of the NHFSS, Dr. Iwuoha, who led the operation, told newsmen that the Command embarked on the operation following intelligence information about a kidnappers’ den in the forest opposite FUTO, along the Avu/Ihiagwa road.
“Immediately the Command received the intel, we contacted our Abuja headquarters and the Technical Services for logistics. Once we got clearance from the Commander General of the Service, Dr. Wole Joshua Osatimehin, and logistics provided by the Deputy Commander General, Technical Services, Amb. John Metchie, we mobilised over 50 operatives in Hilux vans and moved to the forest.
“However, there was no gun encounter because the criminals had possibly left the place long before our arrival. We want to state that as far as crimes planned and executed in the forests are concerned, officers and men of the NHFSS are ready to flush out all the criminals and make the forests very hostile for criminals to operate from,” Dr. Iwuoha said..
