Police investigate ‘human parts cabal inside Rivers forest’

Rivers police said they have launched a probe into reported body parts dealers in the state.

The probe was triggered by two social media posts alleging the presence of kidnappers and body dealers inside a forest in the state.

According to a post by rights activist Israel Joe, two female jobseekers were rescued after they were kidnapped by suspected body part dealers. The women were abducted last week by two men in a mini bus and taken to a forest.

The activist said the women were stripped and their nude photos sent to their families with threats of killing them if the relations failed to pay ₦5 million ransom, adding that the women watched as others victims, whose families could not pay, were killed.

According to the post, the young women were released after a ransom of ₦200,000 was paid.

In a viral social media video, one of the women claimed that she was abducted and taken to a forest in the Etche local government area of the state.

In the video, the woman said she was kidnapped after boarding a tricycle in Iwofe, near Port Harcourt, beaten and taken to the said forest.

She corroborated the activist’s post that that while in the forest, the abductors stripped her and sent her nude photos to her family members and demanded ₦3 million ransom.

She said in her presence, about seven abductees were killed, adding that the hoodlums spared her because she had previously given birth.

“They (the kidnappers) touched my breast and said because I had given birth, they shoved me to one side,” she said.

“They said they were looking for people who hadn’t given birth.

“They said I had given birth and that I was of no use, because they were looking for women who had not given birth.

“They were slaughtering people that hadn’t given birth in my presence. I was crying and wondering what would happen to me.

“The next thing was that they took my naked photos and sent to my people for them to pay N3m. They don’t have that kind of money, so they were pleading.

“Friends from various areas started helping. The little they gathered, they gave them with pleading. People were crying and begging.

“They killed about seven persons in my presence. Even there was a lady suffering from asthma, she died on my laps and they threw her body inside a pit.”

The lady also alleged that a woman, who travelled from Lagos to Port Harcourt to visit a male friend, also fell into the hands of the miscreants, adding that some persons were coming to their den to buy human parts.

She added, “Facebook friends, I saw somebody that they brought there. She said she came from Lagos to look for someone. They slaughtered her and sold her parts. She had not given birth before.

“Nigerians should help and do something because people are being killed in Rivers state. Mini-buses, tinted vehicles and tricycles are risky. People should be careful.”

Police commissioner Eboka Friday, via a statement by spokesperson Nnamdi Omoni, said will investigate the claims. Friday said the women should also lodge a complaint with the police.