How corpse of missing Civil Defence officer was discovered in a shallow grave

The remains of a female officer of the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) who went missing 18 months ago has been discovered in a shallow grave in Obi Local Government Area of Benue State.

Until she went missing, the deceased, Josephine Cynthia Inalegwu Onche, was serving at an NSCDC post in the Otukpo area of the state.

Cynthia, an Idoma native of Otukpo origin, suddenly went missing while her wedding plans were underway.

Some of her colleagues who didn’t want their names on print, narrated that the family of the deceased had reported her disappearance few days to her wedding in December 2019.

She was said to have gone to the market to buy some items in preparation for her wedding but never made it back home.

One of the deceased’s colleagues said several efforts to locate her did not yield results until a commercial motorcyclist disclosed where she was buried.

The cyclist was said to have told the family of the deceased that their daughter was allegedly killed and buried by her husband-to-be for ritual purposes.

Thereafter, he (cyclist) had led the family and security operatives to arrest the groom who in turn led the police to Ogun State where they arrested the native doctor alleged to have performed the ritual at Obi LGA before his relocation to a south west state.

While the suspected killer groom and the native doctor had been allegedly held by the police in Otukpo, the family of the late security personnel exhumed her remains and organised a burial on Tuesday, June 1st, 2021.

Spokesperson of the Benue Police command, DSP Catherine Anene, did not answer calls or react to messages sent to her over the development.

Contacted, the State Command’s Public Relations Officer of NSCDC, ASC Ejelikwu Michael, declined comments, promising that he would speak on the issue at a later date.

But an insider said the news of Cynthia’s corpse being found has thrown the command into mourning again.