The Nigerian Army said the body of Maj. General Idris Alkali, after his gruesome murder and exhumation from a shallow grave, was kept in a sack laden with heavy stones and then thrown into an abandoned well.

The additional insight was given by Colonel Kayode Ogunsanya, deputy director, Army Public Relations, in a post on Facebook.

Ogunsanya said the body has been taken to the 3 Division Medical Hospital and Services, awaiting further directives from the military headquarters.

The discovery of Alkali’s body climaxed weeks of rigorous investigation by the military, that included an unprecedented draining of a pond in Jos.

The pond yielded several other secrets apart from Alkali’s car and personal belongings. Several other vehicles were also found inside, including a bus.

The absence of the body inside the pond led to the arrests of scores of people and eventually, eight persons, including the district head, were declared wanted.

According to Ogunsanya, it was one of the wanted persons, who gave himself up to the police that led the soldiers to the abandoned well in Guchwet Village in Jos South Local government , where Alkali’s body was transferred after it was exhumed from a shallow grave.

Alkali recently retired as a major general in the army. He was on his way to Bauchi from Abuja. He never reached his destination, hence the army declared him missing.

According to Premium Times, a “body bag” containing the parts of the missing general was unzipped for reporters to have a look. But no shots were allowed to be taken to preserve the victim’s dignity.

At the scene, a water pump generator was used to drain the water from the well to allow access to the body parts.

The reporter observed that there was a distance of almost 10 kilometres from where his corpse was first buried to the “no man’s land” where it was found Wednesday morning.

Mr Ibrahim narrated how the victim’s body was found.

“You are all aware that Major General Idris Alkali was declared missing on September 3. The Nigerian Army gave us three tasks. One, to find General Alkali dead or alive; two, to find his car which is a Toyota Corolla; and three, if anything happened to him, to find who are responsible for it .

“As you are all aware, on the September 29, 2018, we were able to discover his vehicle and we saw his personal effects which confirmed that it was him. In the same vein, last week, I called you and showed you where he was buried in a shallow grave.

“We have declared some people wanted and based on that, some of them, reported to the police. Some of them, who took part in his relocation took us where he (body) was relocated.

“He was actually relocated to an abandoned well, which is behind me here. We came here this morning, we drained the water and we were able to salvage the body of General Alkali.

“This is to tell you that now the two aspects of the assignment are completed. The remaining aspect is for all those who took part in this heinous act – nobody, no matter how connected the person is must not go unpunished. For those who have not submitted themselves to the police, we are on their trail. We will find them sooner or later,” the officer said.

While the body parts were being removed, soldiers on site gave a short military parade as a mark of last respect for the deceased officer.

The body was then taken into an ambulance by four generals. (NAN)

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