An 18-year-old girl has been killed by kidnappers in Obasa, Mile 6, along Ajebo Road, in the Abeokuta area of Ogun State.
Police authorities confirmed the girl’s death in Abeokuta on Monday, saying the victim was slain after the kidnappers collected N1 million from her father.
Spokesperson of the Ogun State Police Command, Omolola Odutola, said the police are on the trail of a suspect who lured the girl to her father’s farm where her body was eventually found as an investigation to unravel the circumstances behind her death is ongoing.
“A case of missing persons, the police typically ask the complainant to wait 24 to 48 hours before filing a report, as some individuals return home within that timeframe. This is a standard procedure followed by law enforcement.
“A manhunt has been launched to aid in the arrest of Onyeka, who is currently at large. Our officers have also initiated a discreet investigation into the matter,” Odutola said.
The victim was discovered dead on Sunday, bearing multiple machete wounds to her head and other parts of her body, with her hands bound behind her back.
It was gathered that the victim may have been sexually assaulted before being murdered by the suspected criminals.
But a police source sai that the brutal murder could be linked to a revenge attack on the family, as the father of the deceased is a member of the So safe Corps, a government security outfit in the state.
In a related development, a Chief Magistrate Court in Akure, the Ondo State capital, has remanded three men at a correctional centre over the alleged killing of a farmer, Sunday Ayeni, in Uba-Akoko, in the Akoko South-West Local Government Area of the state.
A few weeks ago, the lifeless body of the 36-year-old farmer was found in a pool of his own blood on his farm with his intestines turned outside while cuts were seen all over his body, indicating that he was stabbed to death by his assailants.
His death came a few days after he was compensated for the destruction of his crops by some cows belonging to the Fulani herdsmen in the area.
To this end, the men of the state police command arrested the trio of Abdullah Tumbi, 59; Mohamodu Bonkolo, 50; and Shagari Muhammed, 45, over the alleged dastardly act.
The defendants were later arraigned before the court on a two-count charge of conspiracy and murder.
Police prosecutor, Folashade Adeyemi, told the court that the defendants and others at large committed the offence on August 10, 2024, at Afiri Camp via Oka-Akoko, Akoko South-West Local Government Area.
According to the prosecution, the defendants allegedly conspired with others at large to kill the farmer, Ayeni, by stabbing him with a cutlass while he was working on his farm.
The charge sheet reads, “That you, Abdullah Halilu Tumbi, Mohamodu Adamu Bonkolo, and Shagari Muhammed, and others at large, did stab one Ayeni Sunday ‘m’ during a clash with him on his farm with a sharp cutlass on his stomach, which eventually led to his death.”
The offence, according to the prosecutor, contravened Sections 316, 319, and 324 of the Criminal Code Law of Ondo State, 2006.
The defendants, however, pleaded not guilty to the count charge, but the court did not take their plea.
The prosecutor prayed the court to remand the defendants at any correctional centre in the state pending advice from the office of the Directorate of Public Prosecution of the state.
Ruling the Chief Magistrate, A. Akinboboye, ordered that the case file be duplicated and sent to the office of the DPP for advice and ordered the remand of the defendants at the Olokuta Correctional Centre in Akure pending the advice of the PDP. The case was adjourned the case till December for mention.