Paucity of funds is stalling investigation into the alleged killing of five persons in Ndong Nwong community in Odukpani Local Government Area of the Cross River State over allegations of witchcraft.
The Eagle Online recalls that 15 members of the community were accused of witchcraft, with five of them killed.
Spokesperson of the Cross River State Police Command, SP Irene Ugbo, said in Calabar on Saturday that though investigation was ongoing, there was an urgent need to conduct autopsies on the corpses of those killed.
Ugbo also dispelled the rumour doing the round that some vested interests were working to compromise the investigation.
Youths allegedly accused 15 persons in the community of possessing witchcraft and they took the suspects into a forest, where five of them were murdered.
The youths also held three Police Officers sent to investigate the matter hostage for hours before they were rescued by the State Police Command Anti-Cultism and Kidnapping Squad, led by SP Awodi Abdulhameed.
The team made several arrests in the community after rescuing the three police officers.
Since the arrest and subsequent interrogation of the suspects by the police, however, there had been concern over the handling of the matter.
SP Ugbo said the current state of the investigation required inputs of medical professionals, but that the command did not have money to engage their services.
She said: “The job requires a lot of hands, especially health workers that will dig up the graves and fumigate the location and a pathologist that will carry out a post-mortem.
“We know that there are organisations who can assist the police in making the process easier and faster.
“We urgently need a pathologist to carry out autopsies before we can proceed on the investigation.”
Ugbo said there was nothing like a compromise in the investigation as the police would ensure the conclusion of the case.
She vowed: “There won’t be any form of compromise on the part of the police.
“The SP Awodi-led unit has professionals and would handle the matter in accordance with international best practices.
“There won’t be any form of interference.”
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