Girl, 16, found dead at block industry in Aba

Aba (Abia) – 16-year old girl was found dead on Saturday at the premises of a block industry in Aba, Abia.

The girl hawked groundnuts around Eziukwu road in Aba.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that her remains were dumped at a corner of the industry naked, with her pant hanging on one of her legs and foam oozing out of her nose.

The tray of groundnuts being hawked by the deceased was kept on top of a nearby platform very close to where her body was dumped.

Some residents at the scene told NAN that the girl must have been strangled but was made naked to make her death seem like a rape case.

A man, who pleaded anonymity, said the girl got a call as she was selling groundnut to him around 8 p.m. on Friday from the suspected killers and hurriedly dashed out to attend to her caller.

“I know her well. She was selling groundnut to me around 8 p.m. when she got a call. She told the person to be patient with her that she will soon come to meet him.

“I jokingly told her that she should make sure she sold the entire groundnut to her caller. She laughed and hurriedly left to answer her supposed caller,” the source said.

Another source close to the victim’s family said that the members became apprehensive when they called her phone number repeatedly around 9 p.m. on the fateful date, but the phone was switched off.

They were, however, notified on Saturday morning that the girl had been found dead at the premises of a block industry.

They said that the brother-in-law to the lady had to notify the police of the crime after residents on the street showed them her corpse.

The Police Area Commander in charge of Aba Area Command, ACP Rabiu Dayi, who spoke at the crime scene, described the incident as unfortunate.

He assured that the police were on top of the situation and would, with time, ascertain the cause of her death and the people behind it.

Dayi said his men would leave no stone unturned in apprehending the culprits and also make sure that they were brought to justice.

Confirming the report, the state Police Commissioner, Mr Usman Abubakar, said that the corpse would be subjected to autopsy, to ascertain the cause of her death.

“Nobody was there when it happened. Her body was found dumped in a block industry premises and nobody can say exactly what caused her death.

“The foam coming from her nose could mean that she was strangled to death. It is only medical professionals that can tell us the exact cause of her death and that will be through autopsy report.

“Whatever that could have led to her death would be unravelled as soon as the autopsy report is out,” Abubakar said.