Ghost kills six in Abia brothel; Police confirm tragedy

Tragedy struck Wednesday in Umuahia the capital of Abia State as two persons were allegedly killed by ‘ghost’, and four others found unconscious in a popular brothel located at 44 Uyo Street.

The brothel known as ‘50,50 Bars’ , according to residents of the area, is usually visited by mysterious beings suspected to be ghosts.

Although the actual identities of the casualties are yet to be ascertained, sources in the neighbourhood said the dead included a male and a female while those unconscious were four males.

A source said that the manager of the brothel was among the casualties.

The incident which occurred at the wee hours of Wednesday had thrown the neighbourhood into pandemonium, and left the entire street deserted by residents apparently for fear of the unknown.

Heavily armed Police personnel have since cordoned off the building restricting movements around the scene of the incident.

A source which pleaded not to be mentioned told our Correspondent that some of the commercial sex workers in the brothel often complain that spirits usually slap them at night while sleeping.

Another source who lives close to the building said he heard some noise emanating from the brothel in the night but took it to be the normal noise from the building until early in the morning when he sighted some commercial sex workers evacuating their belongings.

“When I saw some of the girls leaving the building with their loads in a hurry I suspected that something was amiss. Later I saw policemen packing bodies of dead people from the house into their van”, the source said, noting that the owner of the brothel, a woman, recently relocated from Port Harcourt, Rivers State, where she had been running similar business.

“She came and bought over the place, demolished the old house on it and within few months set up this structure and converted it to a brothel”, he said.

When contacted, the Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO) in the state, Mr. Ogbonna Nta, confirmed the incident and described it as ” ugly and unfortunate.”

He said two seemingly lifeless bodies, (a male and a female), and four other unconscious persons – three males and a female- were evacuated from the building and taken to an undisclosed hospital in town.

The PPRO said the Commissioner of Police, Mr. Leye Oyebade had personally visited the scene of the incident and that the homicide section of the state Criminal Investigation Department (CID) had launched an investigation to unravel the cause of the ugly incident.

He however, explained that the casualties were picked from separate rooms, adding that security had been beefed up around the building to prevent miscreants from tampering with evidence.

Nta who said occupants of the building had all fled before the arrival of the Police said the owner of the brothel would be taken in for questioning.