Police investigate mutilated body found near Plateau market
A man’s body was found behind the Monday Market in Pankshin, Plateau State, with residents reporting that parts of it had been cut off. The victim’s identity and the circumstances of his death were not known when the report was filed. Security personnel removed the remains, while police had not yet issued a public response.
Police in Nigeria’s Plateau State are investigating after a man was found dead behind the Monday Market in Pankshin, with residents reporting that parts of his body had been removed. The body was discovered in the early hours of Tuesday in Pankshin Local Government Area, according to Punch Nigeria. The discovery caused alarm in the community, where residents said they did not recognise the man and had no information about how he died.
Johnson Dawul, a resident who spoke to Punch, said some parts of the corpse, including the penis, appeared to have been cut off. Another resident also told the newspaper that the man’s identity was unknown and that nobody in the area knew what had happened to him. Security personnel were alerted after the body was found.
Residents said officers arrived in a police vehicle and removed the remains from behind the market. An investigation was then launched to establish the victim’s identity and determine who was responsible. The available reports do not provide a confirmed cause of death, identify any suspects or say when the mutilation occurred.
The accounts from residents describe what they observed at the scene, but no official forensic findings had been released at the time of publication. Alfred Alabo, spokesman for the Plateau State Police Command, had not responded to Punch’s enquiries when the report was filed. It was therefore not clear whether police had classified the case as murder or had made any arrests.
The discovery comes amid immediate concern in Pankshin over the circumstances surrounding the death. Residents’ accounts prompted the alert to security personnel, but the reports do not indicate that officials had linked the incident to any wider pattern or identified a motive. Authorities’ next steps are expected to include formally identifying the deceased and examining the remains as part of the investigation.
Until those findings are released, the circumstances of the death and the identities of those responsible remain unresolved.
Vertrix News compared the attributed reports listed below and wrote this independent synthesis. Claims remain attributed where independent verification was unavailable.
Sources
- Punch Nigeria
- ABC News Australia