Stock photo.

By Ugochukwu Alaribe

Panic gripped Amachara community in Umuahia South Local Government Area of Abia State, as residents found a dead middle-aged woman inside a sack.

Sources told Vanguard that the body was found near the Amachara General Hospital, opposite Assemblies of God, Umuokpara in Umuahia South.

Some residents, on sighting the sack, fled the area believing that it was a bomb, while others invited the police.

One of them, who gave his name as Gilbert, said: “When we saw the big bag near a field, we taught it was a bomb. But on second thought, we felt it could be someone’s wares that fell off a moving vehicle,

“But because no one was sure of the contents, some people ran away while others summoned the courage to invite the police from Amankwo Police Station.

“It was the officers that discovered the dead body inside the sack and later took it away in their vehicle.

“No member of the community was able to identify the corpse, when police opened the sack.”

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Contacted, Abia State Commissioner of Police, Mr. Ene Okon, told journalists that earlier, the information police got was that the sack contained a bomb.

The Commissioner explained that in response to the distress call from the community, he directed the Explosive Ordinance Device, EOD, squad to the area to inspect the parcel, defuse and evacuate the said item, if found to be a bomb as alleged.

His words: “The bomb squad, on getting to the scene, and carrying out an inspection, discovered that it was not a bomb as the people had alleged.

“They found a dead middle-aged woman inside the sack.

“When the bomb squad was sure that the item isn’t a bomb, they went ahead to open it. It was at that time that they discovered that it was the body of a woman that was stuffed inside the sac.k”

Okon disclosed that from close observation, it was suspected to be a case of murder, as there were marks on her neck which showed that she may have been strangled, dumped inside the sack and abandoned in the area.”

He disclosed that the body had been deposited at the Federal Medical Center, FMC, Umuahia, as investigation had begun on the incident.

Vanguard