Three remains—two men's and one women's—were discovered within three days after the appearance of dead bodies floating on the Kirikiri canal in Apapa, Lagos, took on a disquieting quality.
These swollen remains, which frequently drifted in the direction of Vanguard's corporate headquarters, give off a distinctive odour.
Over nine bloated bodies in various stages of decomposition were discovered in the same canal last year, some of which had injuries.
Although it was impossible to determine the precise circumstances that caused the unpleasant visions. Residents of the Kirikiri neighbourhood, however, claimed that they could have been the victims of thieves who were forced into the canal from the Kirikiri, Mile-Two, and Festac ends for putting up the fight.
Others believed that some of them may have fallen into the canal by accident while intoxicated or that the male bodies, in particular, might have been those of thieves who were apprehended, beaten, and then dumped into the canal.
Even more concerning is the lack of corpse identification by locals along that axis.
Following a Vanguard report, employees of the Lagos State Ministry of Health/Occupational Health and Safety Services arrived on Tuesday of last week in a white ambulance with the licence plate KTU 514 ER to transport two corpses: a male and a girl.
They went back a mere two days later to remove another male, bloated corpse.
Mr Christopher Okwu, a member of the staff, acknowledged that the remains were removed twice in the space of three days.
The retrieved bodies, according to Eniola Yusuf, a different staff member, were in a condition of decomposition and could not be recognised.
He said: “I cannot recall the number of dead bodies we found last year. However, in the month of December 2022, alone, we evacuated three bodies within the space of three days.
“ Whenever we evacuate the bodies, an autopsy is not carried out on them because the bodies are decayed.”
An admin officer in Vanguard, Mr Orji Francis, lamented that “we have seen multiple dead bodies floating here. When such happens, we would immediately contact the Ministry of Health to evacuate them so that it doesn’t get decayed, because when it starts decaying, nobody can not come into our premises. And the ministry has always responded without delay.
“ We noticed an injury on one side of the last body evacuated. The injury showed that he had been stabbed and maybe thrown into the water.”
Police sources at Kirikiri division told Vanguard that the division had been alerted to the incident.
Sources said, “ Policemen are stationed at Vanguard junction. We often patrol the area to ensure such an ugly incident does not happen again. Special focus is centred around the bridges because information got to us about the dangerous activities that happen both at night and daytime in the location.”
When contacted, the Lagos State Police spokesman, SP Benjamin Hundeyin said such matters had not been brought to his notice. But he promised that the command would swing into action immediately.