Kidnappers Kill Ondo Poly Lecturer Over Late Payment Of Ransom

One of the four victims of last week’s kidnapping in Ondo
State has reportedly been killed by the abductors six days after they
were seized by gunmen.

The victim, a lecturer at the Rufus Giwa Polytechnic, Owo, identified as Taiwo Akinyemi, reportedly died on Sunday.

Four
persons, including the deceased, were kidnapped by suspected Fulani
gunmen in Amurin village on the Akure-Owo Expressway in Owo Local
Government Area of the state last Tuesday.

The three other victims, who are members of staff of the Federal Medical Centre, Owo have been released.

The
corpse of the 52-year-old Akinyemi was said to have been found in a
bush tied to a tree on Sunday evening. It was learnt that the deceased
was killed by the abductors for the inability of his family to pay on
time the ransom demanded by the abductors.

Following the
development, lecturers and students of the polytechnic on Monday held a
procession on the campus as a mark of respect for the late Akinyemi.

The
state governor, Mr Rotimi Akeredolu, was also on the campus of the
school to commiserate with the academic community, and described the
death of the lecturer as unfortunate.

Addressing journalists on
the death of Akinyemi, the Chairman, Senior Staff Association of
Nigerian Polytechnics, RUGIPO chapter, Mr Chris Olowolade, described the
incident as sad and unfortunate.

He explained that the union had
entered into negotiation with the kidnappers in order to secure
Akinyem’s release, but “we lost him to the kidnappers and we received
his corpse yesterday (Sunday).”

He added, “The kidnappers placed a
ransom of N100m on him, which nobody could afford, but they reduced it
to N7m after two days, and later grudgingly asked us to come up with
N500,000.

“The money was taken to them, and the person who took
it to them was directed by the kidnappers to where he should drop the
money. They asked him to stop, reverse and move, just to confirm that he
was the actual person bringing the money.

“But after some
hours, they called that the man bringing the money should come back that
they didn’t see it; only for us to be called by the Rector yesterday
(Sunday) to go and identify a corpse.

“We rushed to the morgue
and discovered that it was his (Akinyemi’s) corpse. He was tied to a
tree with his clothes, and his remains were left in the bush. The body
was recovered by the police and deposited in the morgue; he was treated
badly before he was killed.”

The governor, while speaking to the
staff and students of the institution, explained that the state
government and the security operatives made attempts to rescue the
deceased

He said, “It is unfortunate that the man couldn’t
return home alive. The incident (kidnap) happened some five minutes
after I passed through the place and I had to deploy some security men
in my convoy to the place to rescue the victims.

“These
kidnappers have become more daring and desperate; this is because we are
moving towards the festive period; but the state police command has
assured us that they will not limit their operation to stop and search
only, but that they will also increase road patrol.”

The
state Police Public Relations Officer, Mr Femi Joseph, who confirmed the
killing of the kidnapped lecturer, described his death as unfortunate,
adding that all the other victims had regained their freedom.

Joseph said men of the state police command were on the trail of the kidnappers, but noted that no arrest had been made yet.