MASSOB Director of Information, Comrade Uchenna Madu, claimed in a press statement made available to newsmen yesterday that the controversial corpses were those of their members who were arrested by security agencies in different parts of the Anambra State last year but were never released, nor charged to court. He alleged that they secretly executed alongside other criminals by the security agents and dumped in the river to cover their tracks.
Comrade Madu stated, “MASSOB, with a deep sense of grief and sorrow, wishes to inform Mr. Ban Ki Moon (UN Secretary General), President Goodluck Jonathan, US President Barack Obama, United Nations Human Rights Commission (UNHRC), and Amnesty International about the gruesome murder of MASSOB members by the Special Anti-Robbery Squared (SARS) of Nigeria Police Force, Awkuzu, Anambra State.”
He disclosed some of the victims’ names as Basil Ogbu, Michael Ogwa, Sunday Omogo, Philip Nwankpa, Eze Ndubisi, Ebuka Eze, Obinna Ofor, Joseph Udoh and Uchechukwu Ejiofor.
Madu said: “We got information from an insider at SARS headquarters, Awkuzu, that armless MASSOB members detained at SARS were secretly killed alongside other robbery suspects.”
Meanwhile, the acting spokesman of the Anambra State police command, Mr. Emeka Chukwuemeka, reacted to the MASSOB claims by saying that it was only the outcome of the autopsy being conducted on the specimen taken from the corpses that could state whether the claims by the group were true or false.”