‘How Onitsha’s tunnel of death was discovered’

Gov . obi of Anambra

THERE were more facts yesterday on how the ‘Tunnel of Death’ was discovered in the heart of the commercial city of Onitsha, Anambra State by the Task force on Security and Crime control.




The tunnel, discovered at the foot of a mobile telephone company mast, within the ever-busy Upper Iweka has sent security operatives back to the drawing board, with the hierarchy of the police pointing accusing fingers at reporters, who they alleged over-blew the number of bodies found in the tunnel.

Though the police claim that the only body found around the mast had been evacuated by council officials, a member of the task force, who pleaded for anonymity told The Nation that three bodies were discovered in a bush surrounding the tunnel. The source maintained that the bodies were not recovered from the tunnel.
The tunnel, which was supposed to be a drainage channel, had been out of use because of the deplorable nature of the Onitsha-Enugu Expressway, forcing the flood to find other channels.
A security guard alleged that the remains of one of the body, still at the scene of horror as at the time of filing this report were that of a mad man who died under a flyover bridge.
A member of the task force listed three benches, a crate of soft drink, loaves of bread and clothing materials among other personal belongings as the items found inside the tunnel.
He said a gallon of acid, some arms and ammunition concealed in a polythene bag and recovered by the task force have all been handed over to the Okpoko Police Division.
Explaining why and how they raided the hideout, the task force official said on many occasions, armed robbers had attacked passersby around the area and whenever they were chased, they would run into the bush and disappear.
He said even after cordoning off the area, their raid had never produced the desired result, until the robbery of last Thursday night, which triggered their resolve to have the bush cleared the following morning.
"So," continued the source, "when they started clearing the bush, they heard some movement inside the tunnel and found out that some hoodlums were inside. Before they could catch up with them from the exit point near Ogbaru Main Market, the hoodlums had disappeared. But they succeeded in arresting a suspect at that exit point and handed him over to the police".
The source said the police forced motor cyclists and passersby to join in clearing the bush, adding that it was while clearing the bush that some decomposing bodies and arms and ammunition were discovered.
He said the army and the police were attracted to the scene by the mammoth crowd that came out to see things for themselves.
The source called on the state’s environmental sanitation agency to start from where the task force stopped and ensure that bushes around major roads, especially those around the upper Iweka area, are regularly cleared.
He also urged the government to fulfill its promise of beautifying the area with street lights as it would discourage hoodlums who operate under the cover of darkness.
The International Society for Civil Liberties and the Rule of Law (Intersociety) yesterday hailed the dismantling of the hideout.
Its Chairman Emeka Umeagbalasi, said the development confirmed the accuracy and incontrovertibility of the group’s prediction. It had cited in its memo to the government, the activities of the hoodlums at the Onitsha Upper Iweka, which include pick-pocketing, bag-snatching, car-jacking, robbery and armed robbery, fee-fraud, rape, forceful discharge of passengers and offloading of goods and extortion, abduction, unlawful killings as well as illegal police operations.
The group said in a statement: "We have, again, been vindicated! We reiterate our earlier demand contained in the memo with respect to the above subject matter that the worsening security situations in the area should be brought under control.
"The successful operation so carried out is not good enough. it is only a scratch on the surface. Other parts of the area should be routinely combed by a crack team of detectives.
"There should also be a proper investigation into the discovery and recovery of the dead bodies and the instruments responsible for their death, including human and material instruments.
"This has also brought to bear the need to have Anambra State’s outdated Coroner Law reformed and upgraded urgently, so as to incorporate the modern tools of criminal investigation into the criminal inquiries over this type of unnatural deaths.
"The state ministries of the environment and works should visit the area with a view to ascertaining why such big gutter is not in use.




"If it is blocked elsewhere, they should find out why it is blocked with a view to re-opening it and rid it of further use by violent criminals."

Source : The Nation Newspaper