By Patrick Idowu
Panic gripped residents of Gwagwalada on Monday evening following the discovery of an unidentified male corpse beneath a bridge along the busy Abuja Lokoja highway.
Eyewitnesses said the lifeless body, bearing visible head injuries, was spotted around 5:37 pm by locals who had gone to wash clothes at the river.
Samaila Usman, one of the witnesses, told reporters that the victim was believed to have plunged from the top of the bridge into the river the night before.
According to Usman, fishermen in the area later retrieved the body and placed it on the riverbank, drawing the attention of nearby residents and law enforcement.
“Policemen came to the scene after we raised the alarm,” he said.
Speculation among locals points to a night of heavy drinking as a possible cause.
Residents claim the man had been drinking at the popular Wazobia Park before attempting to walk home across the bridge, where he is believed to have lost his footing and fallen into the river below.
Confirming the incident, Adamu Ibrahim, an official from the environmental department of Gwagwalada Area Council, said the corpse had been evacuated and deposited at a local morgue.
“The body has been taken to the mortuary while efforts are ongoing to trace the relatives of the deceased,” Ibrahim stated.
The grim discovery has left the community in shock as investigations continue to unravel the circumstances surrounding the tragic incident.
