Operatives of Akwa Ibom State Police Command have rescued a father of three from being lynched by an angry mob at the Itam Timber Market in Uyo, the state capital.

The man, whose name has not been mentioned, was caught around a waste dump site in the area attempting to dispose of the corpse of his child, which he had packaged in a carton.

It was gathered that the man was monitored by some concerned persons who suspected the content of the carton he carried on his head, with some ragged clothes, moving towards the waste bin site across the timber market.

Some of the witnesses to the incident told journalists who visited the scene later that the man was accompanied by his two other male children, who were minors, before he was accosted by the mob within the market area.

“Some angry market men caught the man and brought down the suspected carton from his head before they discovered that it contained the lifeless body of his child, naked but neatly wrapped with torn clothes,” they said.

Meanwhile, a video has surfaced online showing the man engaging those who caught him in a fight as they forced him to remove the corpse from the carton, which he obliged.

In the video, the corpse of the fair-skinned child was seen dangling in his left hand while he used his right to return blows to his accusers, who claimed he was a ritualist, before the police intervened at the scene.

Reacting to the incident, the Police Public Relations Officer in Akwa Ibom, ASP Timfon John, said the police operatives at the area rescued the man from the angry mob.

She explained that upon interrogation, the man, who is from Anambra State, said he was trying to take his son’s corpse in a carton to his village for burial, as an Igbo man does not bury male children outside their communities.

She noted that the child’s corpse had been deposited in the morgue and investigations had commenced on the matter, adding that the truth would be ascertained at the end of investigations, even though she stressed that the man did not kill the boy.

Her words: “On the Itam incident, what happened is that a father of three boys was intercepted by the police at Itam with a dead boy and two living boys.

“Upon investigation, the man told the police that all three boys are his, and that in his tradition, deceased males are not buried outside their community. So, he was taking the dead son to the village in Anambra State to be buried.

“The police have since deposited the dead boy in the morgue and investigations are ongoing. Thank you.

“Please note that the said man didn’t kill the boy.”

Police rescue man from angry mob over alleged attempt to dispose child’s corpse at waste bin