Police in Akwa Ibom State, Nigeria, have arrested a cemetery manager and a suspected grave digger for allegedly exhuming a freshly buried corpse and stealing its casket to sell for profit.
The breakthrough followed a midnight operation on August 3, 2026, in the Nsit-Ibom Local Government Area, when members of a local vigilante group intercepted two men transporting a casket on an unregistered motorcycle at about 11:30 p.m.
As the vigilantes challenged them, one suspect, identified as Effiong Asuquo, escaped, while Nsikak Effiong was apprehended and handed over to police.
During interrogation, Effiong confessed that he and his accomplice had exhumed the corpse, removed the body from the casket, and stolen the casket with the intention of selling it.
Further investigation led to the arrest of the cemetery manager, Elijah Matthew Edet, on August 5, with police saying he admitted to conspiring with the grave diggers, though he claimed it was his first involvement in such an act.
Reacting to the arrests, Akwa Ibom Police Commissioner Baba Azare condemned the crime as “barbaric, sacrilegious and a gross violation of the dignity of the dead.”
Police say efforts are ongoing to arrest the fleeing suspect, Asuquo, while investigations continue into whether a wider criminal syndicate is involved.
Both apprehended suspects remain in custody and are expected to face prosecution.
