Bodies in Ezu river, Anambra.
The incident that happened more than 2.5 years ago in Anambra may still have an impact on the present.
It all began on Saturday, January 19, 2013, in Amansea. The locals witnessed a very bizarre occurrence, as people who went to the banks of the Ezu river to swim, wash, and draw water, were shocked to behold numerous corpses bobbing along in the river.
The exact number of bodies floating lifeless upon the water was not clear. A police report put it at 18, while witnesses from the community quoted the tally as high as 50.
No claims were initially made, there were no report to ascertain the cause of deaths. However, Peter Obi, the then governor of Anambra state, offered N5 million for information about the corpses; still the deaths remained a mystery.
The administration of the time claimed that they ran an autopsy and had come up with some findings which they would not divulge for public consumption.
However, there seemed to be a leak from the said report. It was discovered that the corpses had gunshot wounds on them, but there was reluctance on the part of the police and the government to press on the issue, because there were strong indications that security agents could have been responsible for the killings.
Speculations say the bloated bodies belonged to detainees callously shot by the police and then dumped into the river. The Anambra state Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS), based in Awkuzu, was accused of routinely engaging in executions outside judicial precedence.
There were claims by the Movement for the Actualization of the Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB) that SARS swept up and detained several MASSOB members at one of the group’s rally, but that since the arrests, the detainees were neither again seen nor prosecuted.
This claim was however debunked by the State Command in Anambra. Bala Nassarawa, who was then the Anambra state police commissioner, justified the arrest of the MASSOB members, stating that the group posed a threat to nation.
But for some, the commissioner failed in his reply to the allegation. His statement affirms that the SARS made an arrest of the alleged members of MASSOB, but he did not give details, nor provide evidence that the members caught were still alive in custody.
Suspicions festered around, but no concrete conclusion on the issue was reached. Gradually, Anambra state and, indeed, the Nigerian people, forgot the case like an old book on a dusty shelf.
However, more than two and a half years after the ugly incident, the story tends to have taken another turn, as not less than 10 people were reportedly killed by cholera and other water related diseases. The local people have cried out that their woes are attached to the dumping of corpses in the Ezu river.
Local reports also say that at least 20 motor accidents have been recorded close to the bridge where the corpses were dumped, and the people claim it is because ‘the gods are angry’.
Chief Benjamine Onoania is the village head of Amaowele village and member of the king’s cabinet of Amansea community where the incident took place. He said:“Following the incident, the Anambra state government at that time promised to dig boreholes to provide alternative source of water supply to the community but that has not been accomplished.”
Onoania further stressed that Chris Ngige, the senator representing Anambra Central Senatorial district as of the incident, embarked on a borehole project, but that was abandoned half way.
The village head said that the people were left with no choice, than to resort to drinking from their traditional Ezu river, a choice that has now resulted in deaths from water-borne diseases
The diseases, he claims, are a product of pollution of the river.
Onoania claimed also that the gods are angry because they were not appeased. It also triggeded almost two dozens of motor accidents within the area surrounding the Ezu river.
“There have been at least 20 motor accidents between 2013 when the bodies were first sighted and now,” the chief said, adding that most of the accidents where fatal, with a high loss of lives recorded.
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