Some yet to be identified set of bandits placed a million naira ransom on a corpse they kidnapped around the Ahoada East Local Government Area of Rivers State.
The relatives of the deceased, who was a woman, were reportedly taking her body for a burial ceremony when a group of armed kidnappers approached their vehicle, removed her body and vanished into the bush thereafter.
As soon as the son of the dead woman heard what had happened he went to the spot immediately in a bid to confront the bandits. However, he was killed in the process. The bandits shot him fatally and took his body back to their hideout.
According to a witness, “The family had hired an ambulance with which it was conveying the remains of the woman home for burial. On the way, this group of armed men, decked in flowing white robe but armed with AK-47 riffles, waylaid the ambulance, took the casket hostage, demanding for N1,000,000 from the bereaved’s family for its release. They ordered the ambulance driver to “vanish” with his vehicle, and the man gladly fled the scene.”
In addition, the witness mentioned that after releasing the corpse, warnings about another attack from cultists were communicated to those present at the burial ceremony, and learning about this, the congregation ran for their lives and left the corpse behind.
Also, read: 2019 Polls: Orji Kalu Reveals Those Who Sabotaged Buhari In South East