The Police Commissioner of Police in Imo, Mr Chris Ezike, has ordered a thorough investigation into the death of three brothers aged five, three and two who died in Okwelle Onuimo Local Government Area on Friday.

The Police Public Relations Officer in the state, Andrew Enwerem, confirmed the incident.

Enwerem said the brothers: Saviour, Salvation and Precious Nweke, who had earlier been declared missing, were found dead in a vehicle in the village.

“We received a report of three siblings who had gone missing; unfortunately the boys were found dead in a stationary vehicle in the village by a search party,” he said.

The police spokesman said that it was likely that the children unwittingly locked themselves in the vehicle and died of suffocation when they couldn’t unlock the car.

However, he said, an investigation into the matter had been ordered by the commissioner of police.

He added that the corpses of the children had been deposited at a mortuary in the area by the police.

A resident of the community, Onyekachi Chikwem, told the News Agency of Nigerian (NAN) that the children who had been playing when their parents went out were nowhere to be found when the parents returned.

Chikwem said an alarm was raised when the children could not be found and the police were alerted.