The Anambra State Police Command said it has begun a manhunt for the killers of three children of a native doctor murdered at their home in Nise community in the Awka South Local Government Area of the state.
The yet-to-be-identified murderers were said to have scaled the fence of the building where they gained entry into the compound to carry out the act and subsequently left the compound unnoticed.
It was gathered that after killing the children, they dumped their corpses in a parked Mercedes Benz car in the compound before leaving the vicinity.
The spokesman for the state police command, SP Tochukwu Ikenga, confirmed the development to our correspondent on Monday, adding that the killing occurred late on Saturday and the incident was reported to the command late on Sunday.
The reason for the killing could not be officially obtained immediately, but sources in the area claimed that the reason might not be unconnected to alleged disagreements between the father of the deceased and some yet-to-disclosed persons over a business deal.
One of the sources, who craved anonymity said, “The three young boys, aged between six and two years, were at their parents’ residence at Nise when an unidentified person or persons scaled the fence of their compound and murdered them in cold blood.
“The children were murdered, with their mouths tied and their bodies found in pools of blood dumped inside their father’s car, parked within the compound.
“Their father, a young man in his early 30s, is a native doctor and a businessman. He is fond of locking the children inside the compound while he goes for business, accompanied by their mother. He would return home to serve them a meal before heading back to his business after locking them up.
“The father of the victims was reported to have been having issues with some unconfirmed individuals. However, it cannot be determined if these conflicts led to the deaths of the three children or not.”
Efforts to speak with the father of the deceased proved abortive as he said he was not available for comment.
Ikenga, while reacting to the development, said police operatives have visited the scene of the incident and evacuated the corpses, adding that a manhunt has been launched on the suspects through the information gathered from residents around the area.
Ikenga said, “Yes, we got a report from the Divisional Police Officer of the area about the killing of three siblings who were killed by some assailants and their corpses dumped in a Mercedes Benz car parked in the compound.
“We have taken over the scene and we have also interacted with those around the scene and the father of the deceased and the information they have provided is helping us to launch a manhunt on the suspects.
“The assailants entered the compound, killed the victims and dumped their corpses inside a parked Mercedes Benz in the compound. The incident happened on Saturday, but we got the report late on Sunday.
We are trying to unravel the circumstances behind the killing, whether it was due to the negligence of their father or the motive of the suspect and as soon as we conclude our investigation, the report will be made public.
(PUNCH)