The Joint Task Force (JTF) deployed to restore law and order in troubled Ogbogoro village in Obio-Akpor, Rivers State , have found the remains of a man killed and dumped inside the creek by suspected cultists.
JTF spokesperson, Major Sagir Musa, said security agents comprising of the Army, Navy, State Security Services and the Police found the remains of the man, suspected to be an expatriate, in the early hours of yesterday.
The Rivers State Commissioner of Police, Mr. Felix Ogbaudu confirmed the discovery. He, however explained that though the body was pale due to decomposition, the remains was that of a Nigerian whose identity has not been ascertained.
The killers of the man tied his hands behind his back with rope and stuffed his mouth before drowning him.
Gunmen had, last Thursday, invaded Ogbogoro primarily to rescue eight of their cohorts who were arrested and about to be handed over to security agents for refusing to renounce violence.
In the process, they shot dead three chiefs and destroyed several houses. The killing of the chiefs led to the deployment of the JTF to the community.
Based on intelligence, the JTF at the weekend conducted a cordon and search operation in Ogbogoro, Ozuoba and Rumuekini villages, during which they arrested six persons in connection with the death of the chiefs
Ogbaudu said the only expatriate still been held by kidnappers, Mr. Dave Worth, works for an oil services firm, Hydrodrive.
The body has been deposited at the Braithwaite Memorial Hospital (BMH), Port Harcourt.
The head of the JTF, Brigadier General Sankiyaki Bello, has directed the JTF to continue the hunt and clampdown on suspected cultists in riverine communities in the state.