A former governorship aspirant of the All Progressives Grand Alliance in Enugu State in the just-concluded 2023 general elections has been found dead.
The deceased, Dons Ude, was declared missing last Saturday.
Mr Ude was said to have been found dead at Ninth Mile Corner in Udi Local Government Area of Enugu State, south-east Nigeria.
His vehicle was also reported to have been recovered.
Sudden disappearance
Before he was declared missing, Mr Ude was reportedly not responding to calls to his telephone line, which raised fears that he might have been abducted.
He was a former Secretary of the Peoples Democratic Party in the state.
Sources said his phone was later found by the wall of the Ogui Police Station. This raised more fears that he might have been in trouble.
His wife, who had been trying to reach the husband on the phone, was later informed that the phone had been found.
The distressed wife was said to have reported at the station where she narrated that she had been unable to reach her husband on the phone.
It is not clear, for now, if the politician was a victim of kidnap, sources said.
The police spokesperson in Enugu State, Daniel Ndukwe, confirmed the death of the politician in a statement on Wednesday night.
Mr Ndukwe, a deputy superintendent of police, said the victim’s decomposing body was found on Tuesday at about 11:00 p.m. in a bush at Ninth Mile Bypass.
The police spokesperson also confirmed that the victim had been missing since Saturday when he left his residence in the Enugu metropolis in a white Toyota Highlander SUV to an undisclosed location.
“All efforts made to trace his whereabouts proved abortive, until his remains were found on the said date and location while the vehicle was later found abandoned and recovered today, 26 April at about 10 a.m. at Ngwo in Udi Local Government Area,” he said.
Mr Ndukwe said there were marks of violence on the victim’s body which, according to him, “strongly suggests that he was murdered.”
He said the victim’s body was deposited in a mortuary for preservation and medical autopsy after being confirmed dead by a doctor in a hospital.
The Commissioner of Police in Enugu State, Ahmed Ammani, has ordered police operatives from the Homicide Section of the State Criminal Investigation Department and Tactical Squads to investigate the murder of the victim, Mr Ndukwe said.
Mr Ammani asked the operatives to combine efforts in the investigation to track down the killers “within the shortest possible time.”
Increased attacks
Like other states in Nigeria’s south-east, security has deteriorated in Enugu State with frequent attacks by armed persons.
The attacks often target security agencies, government officials and facilities.
The Nigerian government has accused the outlawed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) of being responsible for the deadly attacks in the region. But the group has repeatedly denied any involvement in the attacks.
IPOB is a group leading the agitation for an independent state of Biafra which it wants to be carved out from the south-east and some parts of south-south Nigeria.
