Locals at Garam, a Niger community that borders FCT, have narrated how they found five decomposing human bodies in a bush not far away from the community.

They said the bodies were found near a farm located along the Bwari/Abuja-Kaduna bye-pass road, through the Kagarko area.

The locals said each of the bodies had their faces tied and were riddled with gunshots on their chests and other parts of their bodies.

The secretary of the youths in the community, Tanko Dikko, told one of our reporters at the community on Sunday that the villagers discovered the dead bodies when an elder in the community, who went to his beans farm, perceived an offensive smell from nearby.

Tanko, who participated in the mass burial of the bodies, said after the discovery, they immediately informed authorities of Tafa Local Government Area of the development, adding that officials of the social welfare unit of the council visited the scene before the bodies were buried.

He said, “When the report came to the notice of the village and the district head of the community, the police were contacted. They came with officials of the Welfare Unit of Tafa Local Government Area and, together with the community leaders, the buried the bodies in a mass grave.”

He added that the deceased were all in English dress, with some of them wearing only singlets.

Dikko said that while they were burying them, a flat Android phone was found on one of the bodies, which was taken away by the police.

Another resident of a nearby community, Isah Sumaila, said earlier on Tuesday night, some locals saw two cars, with one of them carrying some people.

He said at a point close to the first police checkpoint along the Bwari-Jere Road, the vehicles branched into a nearby bush and a few minutes after, they started hearing gunshots.

He added, “After the gunshot, the vehicles came out and moved back towards Bwari, but we really don’t know who they were.”

According to him, it was three days later that a farmer from the Garam community found the corpses of five people and rushed back to inform the chiefs.

He said that sometimes last year, there was an allegation that security operatives from the FCT often brought arrested suspected bandits to execute around the area.

“But honestly, it has been a long that we heard such a story now, and we don’t know what actually happened that Tuesday night,” he added.

Police confirm incident, begin probe

Meanwhile, the Niger State Police Command, on Sunday, said it has commenced an investigation into the discovery of five decomposed human bodies in a bush near Garam in Tafa Local Government Area.

The Command’s Public Relations Officer, Wasiu Abiodun, a Superintendent, said: “On November 22, 2025, at 10 am, information received from Garam village via Tafa, indicated that five decomposed bodies were found in a farm located along the Bwari/Abuja-Kaduna bye-pass road, through the Kagarko area.

“Police operatives attached to Tafa Division moved to the scene and found five male decomposed bodies with blindfolds, suspected to have been dumped in the area by unknown persons.

“The bodies were observed with gunshot wounds on their chests and machete cuts. They were evacuated with the aid of the Tafa local government social welfare unit. However, the incident is under investigation to arrest the perpetrators of the suspected culpable homicide.”

A source at the police division also confirmed that an investigation had commenced with the aid of the phone found on one of the bodies. (Text, excluding headline: Daily Trust)

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