The vigilante group recovered the body on Wednesday, at an abandoned building in Elechi Street area of Mile 3 Diobu, Port Harcourt City Local Government Area.
A report had it that the staircase attached to the abandoned one-storey building collapsed and fallen on the victim.
The victim, suspected to be a scavenger, was believed to be under the staircase when it caved in and fell on him.
A source within the area said the building, overtaken by weeds and riddled with deep cracks on the wall, was used by criminals for their activities.
Confirming the development, Mr. Godstime Ihunwo, who is the Chief Security Officer of Nkpolu Oroworukwo, Mile 3, Diobu, said he received information at about 6:15pm on the incident.
Ihunwo, a member of Diobu Vigilante Service, disclosed that he and his team only discovered the corpse of the victim trapped under the fallen staircase when they visited the abandoned building in search of drug users.
“Based on previous complaints from residents of the area on the use of the abandoned building as smoking joint by hoodlums, we mobilised to the place and on getting to the area the hoodlums have left.
“While conducting search for the hoodlums in the abandoned building, we saw a corpse of a male and on close examination it was observed that the staircase of the storey building collapsed on him,” he said.
Ihunwo revealed that the team raised alarm that drew the attention of residents of the area who contacted the Nkpolu Divisional Police Headquarters Mile 3 Diobu.
When contacted, the Rivers State Police Command confirmed the incident, noting that the victim was a scavenger who engaged in removing iron rods from abandoned buildings.
Speaking with Newscoven.ng on Saturday, Rivers Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), SP Grace Iringe-Koko, said investigation was ongoing to unravel the circumstances of the death of the victim.
“Yes, there was a case of a man whose corpse was said to have been found under the fallen staircase of an abandoned one-storey building.
“Investigation is still ongoing on the circumstances of the death of the man, but it has been established that he was a scavenger who goes about removing iron rods from houses, especially abandoned buildings,” she told Newscoven.ng on telephone.
