The Senate yesterday waded into the mystery surrounding the discovery of about 30 corpses floating on Ezu River in Anambra State, as it directed its Committees on Police Affairs and Security and Intelligence to immediately commence an in-depth investigation into the matter.
Members of the Amansea community in Awka North Local Government Area of Anambra State, where the river flows through, woke up in the early hours of Saturday, 19 January, to discovery of about thirty (30) dead bodies floating on the Ezu river.
The river is the present boundary between Anambra and Enugu States.
The Senate’s decision to investigate the matter on Thursday was sequel to a motion sponsored by Sen. Andy Uba, PDP Anambra South, titled: Strange Dead Bodies found in Ezu River of Anambra State”.
Sen. Uba in his motion decried that “no explanation has been proffered as to the possible origin of the dead bodies, while the autopsy ordered by the governments of Anambra and Enugu States has yielded no report.”
He lamented that the river is “the only source of water for domestic and other uses for the people of the five communities of Anambra State”, a development that has led to its peoples experiencing “discomfort and hardship”.
Senators who spoke on the motion condemned the incident, and expressed worry on the lack of explanations over the dead bodies, underscoring further the damage it casts on the reputation of the nation.
Senate President David Mark while summing up the deliberation said, “I think it is a very serious thing that no community in this country has reported that they can’t find one person; not one community has made a report.
“Even if police is inefficient, even if security agencies are inefficient, the communities themselves or the families themselves, nobody can come to say we can’t find our son. It is very disturbing.
“I think the bigger problem is not what happened but, where did these dead bodies come from? I think the river that is flowing, the dead bodies wouldn’t have just emerged from nowhere; they would have come from a certain place before they got to where they were eventually found. So it is a bit strange.
“Even if they were in boat that capsized, who are they? So it is strange and we need to be very concerned about it. In addition to that, of course the villagers naturally will be concerned and they may not want to go to the river anymore, but unless we are able to say who these people are, I think there’d be big problem for us in this country. And it is not just about security agencies alone, I think every community in this country now is involved.”