A total of nine corpses have been exhumed across communities in Uwheru kingdom, Ughelli North council area of Delta state, following suspected herdsmen onslaught last Thursday and Friday.
The killers had reportedly buried the bodies in shallow graves, three of which were discovered Sunday evening.
The action taken by members of the community to exhume the bodies was necessitated by the statement from the Delta state police command which claimed that only one person died.
Security agencies had demanded to see the bodies of those alleged to have been slaughtered in the renewed attacks on the five communities.
The President-General of Uwheru Kingdom, Chief Cassidy Akpodafe, told journalists on Monday that the bodies were exhumed on Sunday after the Deputy Senate President, Senator Ovie Omo-Agege, visited the community.
It was gathered that a team of security operatives and members of the community discovered more shallow graves on Monday while searching for the bodies of victims allegedly killed by the herdsmen.
The corpses were said to have been taken to the Police Area Command Ughelli in three trucks at about 7:30pm on Monday for records before they were moved to the morgue at the Central Hospital, Ughelli, for autopsy.
The Delta State Commissioner for Higher Education, Professor Patrick Muoboghare, who hails from the area, confirmed the development.
He claimed two more bodies were yet to be found.
“Six corpses were exhumed today under supervision of soldiers and policemen. The six bodies are now being deposited at the mortuary at Ughelli. Gory pictures will follow later.
“Total number so far is nine while the tenth is battling for his life in the hospital. Two more bodies are yet to be found. The search continues Tuesday,” the professor stated in a phone conversation, late Monday.
The action taken by the community to exhume the bodies was necessitated by the statement from the Delta state police command, claiming that only one person died in the recent attacks.
The statement signed by its Public Relations Officer, DSP Onome Onowakpoyeya, on Sunday, claimed that only one person with gunshot wounds was discovered in the search for the allegedly murdered ten.
According to The Nation, the Commissioner of Police, Mr. Hafiz Inuwa later spoke on telephone, saying, “yes, corpses were exhumed by the community people and they brought them to the police station. That is the information I got. We are now going to find out how it all happened.
“Who buried them, who exhumed them, when were they buried, circumstances that led to the deaths, by whom and who must have buried them without reporting the matter. We are investigating because we cannot just see things like this and keep quiet. A lot of questions must be asked,” CP Inuwa stated.
