By Steve Oko

UMUAHIA — The Abia State Police Command says its operatives have recovered 28 human skulls and assorted human bones from two suspected criminal camps in the forests of Isuochi, Umunneochi Local Government Area of the state.

The discovery was made on Saturday when operatives from the Command’s Violent Crime Response Unit, Anti-Kidnapping Unit, Anti-Cultism Unit, Intelligence Response Unit, Rapid Response Squad and Isuochi Divisional Police Station raided the suspected camps at Umuaku and Nneato, Isuochi.

The Police Public Relations Officer, DSP Maureen Chinaka, said the operation followed actionable intelligence gathered under the Command’s ongoing “Operation No Hideout for Criminal Elements in the State.”

According to her, the suspects fled into the surrounding forests as the tactical teams arrived, abandoning the camps.

“A total of twenty-eight human skulls and bones, suspected to be those of kidnap victims, were recovered,” Chinaka said.

She said investigation had commenced to establish the identities of the deceased and determine the circumstances surrounding their deaths.

The Command added that it was maintaining surveillance in the area while intensifying efforts to apprehend the fleeing suspects.

The Commissioner of Police, CP Wilfred Afolabi, said the Command would sustain intelligence-led operations against criminal elements across the state.

Afolabi declared that Abia would remain a “no-hiding place” for criminals and urged residents to provide the police with timely information on suspicious activities.

He stressed that public cooperation remained critical to the fight against criminality in the state.