Adekunbi Ero
Two days after he was abducted from his farm house in Utese, Okada in Ovia North-east local government area of Edo State, the corpse of Presley Egbe Ediagbonya, former local government chairman, and erstwhile commissioner for sports and youth development in the state has been found on another farm where it was dumped by his assailants. A credible source hinted the magazine that Ediagbonya’s abductors also killed the owner of the farm where the body was abandoned after allegedly collecting two million naira ransom from the family. According to her, “I believe the owner of the farm saw them when they came to deposit the body so they killed him too”.
The family of the deceased chieftain of the All Progressives Congress, APC, who also served as deputy chief of staff during the administration of a former governor, Lucky Igbinedion, had been apprehensive after dropping the two million ransom at the location they were directed to but could not find him. According to the source, “The kidnappers said we should deliver two million naira in Patani in Delta state and after we returned, we got a text message that the body of our father was dumped in a cassava farm and we have been searching for the body to no avail. As I am talking to you (6:09 pm) another batch have departed to the forest to continue the search”.
However, the body was eventually found, according to the magazine’s source.
Uncertainty also surrounded the fate of another kidnap victim, Monday Iraoya, the medical doctor who was also abducted on Friday between Uhunmora and Ozalla in Owan-west local government area of the state. The whereabouts of Iraoya, director of primary health care, Owan-east local government area of the state, had remained unknown though his captors had continued to negotiate with his family. Family sources volunteered that his abductors had scaled down their demand from a whooping N100 million to N25 million but they were still finding it hard to raise the money.
In a related development, the Benin Branch of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) has called for an emergency meeting Tuesday over the abduction of one of its members, Omon Osobase who was said to have been missing since May 9 after an altercation with some persons in an open bar.
The Public Relations Officer of the Benin branch of NBA, Douglas Ogbankwa said they became worried because of alleged complacency of the police when the incident was reported to them. “The attackers of Osobase are known and when report was made to the police after they beat him and went away with him, the police did not act. A petition signed by the chairman and secretary of our association, Prince Collins Ogiegbaen and Pius Oiwoh has been submitted to the DSS for further investigation”
Reacting to the kidnap incidents, the Police Public Relations Officer in the state, Chidi Nwabuzor said police had deployed their men in search of the kidnapped victims and “I will describe the issue of death as fake news for now. We have been told of the two kidnapped incidents and we are investigating them already”.
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