The Kwara State Police Command on Wednesday said it recovered the dead body of a kidnap victim, Onijala Adegboyega, who was abducted last Friday in Olla in the Isin Local Government Area of the state.
A statement by the state Police Public Relations Officer, SP Ajayi Okasanmi, said the body, which had deep cuts, was recovered from the bush in the early hours of Wednesday.
Okasanmi said the 56-year-old might have died from the injuries he sustained while struggling with the kidnappers.
Recall that Adegboyega, aka Oni-Jay, a brother to Ambassador Olutola Onijala, an aide to former President Goodluck Jonathan and a former gubernatorial aspirant of the Peoples Democratic Party in Kwara State, was kidnapped by gunmen in his white Hilux van while returning from his farm at Olla around 7pm on Friday.
He reportedly resisted the gunmen, but was overpowered after receiving machete cuts in different parts of his body.
The police spokesperson, in a statement, said, “The Kwara State Police Command wishes to inform the good people of Kwara State about the recovery of the dead body of one Onijala Adegboyega, aged 56, who was kidnapped on November 19, 2021, at Olla town, in the Isin Local Government Area of Kwara State.
“The command wishes to express its condolences to the people of Olla in particular and Kwara State in general and to state that available human and material resources to the command were deployed in the effort to get the deceased rescued alive. Unfortunately, the reverse was the case, as he died as a result of the severe injuries to his left hand inflicted on him by the kidnappers in the struggle to subdue him.
Information received from the team of vigilantes and local hunters co-opted into the search for the victim was that his dead body was found deep inside the bush and handed over to the family by the police because of the decomposing condition of the body.
“Effort is still ongoing to arrest the culprits, as we believe some of the criminals must have suffered some gunshot injuries in the course of exchange of gunfire with our men.”
Meanwhile, the command said it was making efforts to rescue Fatima Nurudeen, the owner of Lafrcdeen Pure Water factory in Sosoki village, in the Asa Local Government Area of the state, who was kidnapped on Saturday along with seven of her workers.
While the seven workers were rescued through the combined efforts of the police and a local vigilance group, the owner of the factory had yet to be found.
