Police Discover Human Skulls and Bones in Abia Forest as Suspects Escape

(Police Discover Human Skulls. Photo by BBC News Africa)
The skulls and bones of at least 28 people have been found in suspected criminal camps in forests in Abia State, south-eastern Nigeria.

Police are working to identify the remains, which were found on Saturday in the Umuaku and Nneato forests after a security operation in the Umunneochi area.

Police spokeswoman Maureen Chinaka said the suspects fled when officers arrived and the camps were then dismantled.

She said the remains are suspected to belong to kidnap victims, while forensic and other checks are on to confirm who they were and how they died.

The raids followed intelligence reports of criminal activity in the forests.

Police have stepped up surveillance in the area to track down those who escaped.

Abia Police Commissioner Wilfred Afolabi said the operation is part of a continuing push to destroy criminal hideouts in the state.

Police asked residents to report suspicious activity and are trying to find out if the remains link to unsolved kidnapping cases.

Decomposing bodies believed to be tied to kidnappers have been found before during raids in Umunneochi.

The find is likely to bring back fears about kidnap gangs in remote forests in the south-east, where criminals often target motorists, travellers and residents for ransom.

Separately, more than 80 people, mostly women, were seized in mass kidnappings in two northern states over the weekend.

Gunmen abducted nearly 50 farmers in Niger State on Sunday, and about 40 women were taken in Zamfara State the same day, according to two security reports seen by AFP and a local source.

Kidnapping for ransom has become a major source of income for criminals, including bandits and militant Islamists, in northern Nigeria.