Abducted Poly Lecturer Killed And Dumped In The Bush

Abducted Poly Lecturer Killed And Dumped In The Bush

The corpse of Mr Taiwo Akinyemi, a staff of the Ondo State-owned Rufus Giwa Polytechnic, Owo (RUGIPO) has been found after the suspected kidnappers who abducted him last week shot him dead over the inability to pick the ransom raised by the institution, New Telegraph Newspaper reports.

This gruesome murder of Akinyemi led to protest by staff, management and students of the institution. They also postponed indefinitely the second-semester examination which supposed to begin today.

Akinyemi, and three workers of the Federal Medical Centre,(FMC) Owo were last week Tuesday abducted in Amurin junction in Owo Local Government Area of the State after the close of work on that day.

While the other victims were released after unspecified ransoms were paid, Akinyemi could not return to his family as he was shot dead by his abductors, his body tied to a stake and dumped in the bush.

The body of Akinyemi was discovered by a farmer who reported the strange discovery in his farm to the Police. The Police from Owo Division came and evacuated the remains to the Mortuary.

Giving details of the gruesome murder, the Chairman of Senior Staff Association of Nigeria Polytechnic, (SSANIP), Mr Chris Olowolade said the abductors initially placed N100 million ransom on Akinyemi.

Olowolade said the ransom was reduced to N50 million and eventually N500.000. He said they were ready with the money and sent a delegation to deliver the money to them only for the money to be returned.

His words “He was kidnapped on Tuesday on his way to Akure after the closing hour. There were negotiations on how to release him. The kidnappers place a ransom of N100 million which nobody can afford. Later they lowered it to N7 million. Grudgingly, they said we should come with N500, 000; the money was taken to them.

“They were directing the person with the money on how to move and the money was delivered to a particular point. But after some hours, they said the man should come back that they did not see the money. They said the man should bring back the money that night.

“We said maybe the man has died. It was around 6 pm on Sunday that I was called by the Acting Rector that I should liaise with the Chief Security Officer so that we can confirm the body recovered in the busy if it is that of Akinyemi.”

The Chairman of Academic Staff Union of Polytechnic (ASUP), Mr Rafiu Ijawoye said the government should find the killers of Akinyemi as workers of the institution were apprehensive of their safety.
The governor, Mr Oluwarotimi Akeredolu who paid an unscheduled visit to the institution to commiserate with the academic community said the government would beef up security along the Akure/Owo road to prevent such incident again.

According to the governor, the kidnapping happened barely five minutes after he passed through the route to Owo, his hometown.

Akeredolu said “It is unfortunate that we lost one of our brothers. It happened barely five minutes after I passed through the route. When we heard about the incident, we deployed policemen there, before they got there, they were gone.

“It is the effort of the policemen that led to the release of the pregnant woman. We did not pay ransom for her release. Every other person had come back, it is only him that did not come back.

“He was one of the 17 people that we just reinstated. God will condone the family of the deceased. God will grant Akinyemi eternal rest. We have directed that we increase patrol. We have to limit stop and check and increase patrol. We must be security cautious. If you notice strange movement in your area, report to the Police.

“We should engage in community policing and investigation. We should give information to the police. The government will do its best to make sure this will be the last time such incident will happen.”

The Police Public Relation Officer (PPRO), Mr Femi Joseph who confirmed the death of Akinyemi described the death as unfortunate as the Command was on the verge of securing the release before he was killed.

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