The British Broadcasting Corporation has apologised for wrongly publishing a story about a restaurant in Anambra State, where it said human flesh was served as meat to customers.

In the report, first published by the network’s Swahili service, suspicious residents in Anambra told police about rumours that the restaurant offered human meat for customers.

It also said when police raided the restaurant, fresh human heads, some still bleeding, were discovered.

The report said the blood found in the restaurant by the police was in the process of being drained into a plastic bag.

The BBC has, however, published an apology, saying the story was false and inappropriate and said it had already begun an investigation into the publication of the story.

It also said it will take necessary steps to ensure the mistake does not occur again.

“The story about the Nigerian restaurant which we published here frame a mistake and we apologise. It was incorrect and BBC published without the proper checks. We have removed the story and have launched an urgent investigation into how this happened,” the BBC said in a statement.

It added that the BBC Swahili service’s reputation for accuracy and balance remains important to the organisation.