Unidentified corpse worries Lagos People

The unidentified victim

Two months after, Ifedapo community in Ejigbo, Lagos State is still battling to make meaning out of its experience on the morning of July 29, 2013.

On that day, residents of the area woke up to find a swollen headless corpse on the main street of the area.

Sixty three days after the incident, many of the residents said they were worried that nobody had come to claim the corpse from the police, who were alerted immediately the incident happened.

They added that it was troubling that the identity of the man, who wore a wedding ring, was still a mystery.

The Chairman, Ifedapo Double Powerline Community Development Association, Mr. Amos Johnson, who spoke for the residents, said the community was worried that the deceased looked like a “responsible man” and would have been missed by his relatives by now.

 He told Jetlinking Metro that the corpse was found about 8am on the side of the road by some residents who were going to work.

 He said, “It was on Monday, July 29, around 8am. One of the residents called me that they found a corpse on the street and I immediately went to the scene.

 “When I got there, he was headless and was also tied up with a rope.

“We stayed there till 2pm, trying to identify him and looking for his head but we couldn’t find it.”

Johnson said after the community’s leaders had exhausted all avenue to trace the relative of the corpse, the incident was reported at the Ejigbo Police Division.

He said, “After the police were called in, we had to remove the rope that was used to tie him and as we did, we found his head.”

 Mr. Johnson added that it was difficult for the community to evacuate the corpse as the area boys called to do the job gave them a high bill.

 He said the body was later taken by the police for a coroner inquest to uncover the cause of his death.

The Police Deputy Public Relations Officer, Damasus Ozoani, said the deceased was murdered in cold blood.

He  said, “Police preliminary investigations reveal that he was murdered. Although investigation is still ongoing to unravel the true cause of death and those behind it, we are assuringthe residents  that the perpetrators of this heinous crime will be brought to book soon. We will make this public as soon as possible.”