40-Year-Old Farmer Murdered By Kidnappers

Akinola Akinnibinu, a 40-year-old cocoa farmer in Ondo State’s Ondo East Local Government Area, was murdered by his kidnappers following a late ransom payment.

The kidnappers allegedly killed Akinnibinu and chemically treated his body, according to The Nation.

The body of the 40-year-old was found on Wednesday, February 8, 2023, four days after the kidnappers had gotten in touch with his wife and demanded payment.

According to reports, Akinola was taken hostage at his farm in Oko Oparun and was given a N700,000 ransom demand.

The deceased called his wife and asked her to go get N700,000 from a POS machine and bring it to the farm.

According to sources, the kidnappers asked the victim’s wife to transfer money to an Opay account number over the phone.

However, the woman called Amotekun Corps and other villagers, but the kidnappers fled before help could arrive.

The wife narrated, “My husband left the house in the morning to his farm. He later called me to collect money from the POS near our house. I asked him what he wants to use the money for, he said I should bring it and that he will tell me when I get to the farm.

“Later, some men used my husband’s number to call me to send the money to an Opay account. They called again that they did not see the money and I told them that I have sent it. They asked me to come to the farm. I was scared and I alerted Amotekun and the other villagers. As I was coming with people, they called and said since I have alerted people, that ‘I will see’.

“On getting to the place, I did not see them and we left, not until yesterday when villagers called that they saw a dead body that was covered with bamboo leaves and there was chemical all over the body. It was my husband’s body.”

According to police sources, members of the Igba Division were sent to the area and were able to collect the body, which was then taken to the morgue at the General Hospital in Ondo town.