Resident of Kitwe’s Ganerton area have appealed to the Zambia Police Service to help secure Nakayombo cemetery, where unknown people are exhuming corpses of infants. So far, 15 cases of bodies being exhumed from the cemetery have been reported to various police stations in Kitwe. The heads of infants are sometimes shaved, while some bodies are found with missing parts. Last week, an empty casket was found on top of the grave, with the remains of an infant who was buried in the grave missing.

Naomi Bwalya, a resident of Ganerton Township, said there is need for the Zambia Police Service to help secure the graveyard. Ms Bwalya, who recently found two bodies of infants exhumed from the grave, said the growing trend is scary and needs to be curbed.

“Nakayombo cemetery is isolated, it is far from residential houses and this is the reason why we have people digging out the graves,” she said. Ms Bwalya said only officers from Kitwe City Council (KCC) are manning the graveyard and that they are few. Another resident, Bright Mubanga suspects the people that are exhuming the bodies are ritualists because some body parts are found missing.

Mr Mubanga said there is need to intensify patrols in the graveyards to ensure the culprits are brought to book. “Nakayombo cemetery is vast, so we need more patrols to capture the culprits,” he said. Itimpi ward councillor Mpasa Mwaya is also concerned about the activities taking place at the graveyard and wants quick action from the police to bring the culprits to book.

But Copperbelt commissioner of police Charity Katanga said police have launched investigations into the matter. Mrs Katanga also confirmed the recent incident, where the body of an infant was stolen from the grave yard. “We only found an empty coffin on top of the graveyard without remains. We are investigating the matter,” she said