Fear gripped residents of popular Ikoku Market in Port Harcourt City Local Government Area of Rivers State on Saturday morning as business people in the area resumed to the sight of a corpse with machete cuts.
According to the Rivers State Police Command, which verified the incident, an initial inquiry revealed the victim was well-known and might have been lynched.
Additionally, it was discovered that the male victim’s critical organs—particularly his private area—had been removed, raising the possibility that he had been killed for ceremonial reasons.
The corpse was abandoned in front of a new-generation bank on Ayama Junction along Olu-Obasanjo Road, Port Harcourt.
According to an eyewitness who owns a shop at Ikuku, he disclosed that the stomach of the deceased was ripped open and his intestine allegedly removed. He mentioned that the identity of the deceased was yet to be ascertained even as onlookers gathered.
However, Grace Iringe-Koko, a Superintendent of Police and the State Police Command’s Public Relations Officer, pointed out that the victim was well-known in the community for infamous actions. Iringe-Koko emphasised that the victim’s vital organs were fully intact and rejected the report of the vital organ harvest.
She stated, “On November 9, 2024, at about 1030 hrs, the Rivers State Police Command received a report of an unidentified corpse lying near Ayama Junction/Ikokwu Spare Parts Market, along Olu-Obasanjo Road, Port Harcourt. Our operatives responded promptly.”
