Kidnappers Kill Businessman In Abia After Collecting Ransom

Gunmen have killed a 72-year-old businessman, Chief Alex Okonkwo in Umuahia, the Abia capital, the  News Agency of Nigeria reports.

Family sources told NAN on Wednesday that the man was abducted on June 8.

The source said that after the ransom of N1.7million was paid; the body was discovered dumped in a bush path in Olokoro Community, near Umuahia on June 16.

Okonkwo, who hailed from Akata in Oru East Local Government Area of Imo, owned a popular supermarket on Lagos Street, Umuahia.

NAN learnt that the man was kidnapped at about 8 a.m. in the supermarket by four heavily armed men.

The gunmen reportedly shot sporadically into the air before they bundled the man into the booth of their Camry car and sped off.

The deceased’s son, Ndubueze, told NAN that the family was informed that a dead body was found lying in a bush path on Olokoro road.

He said that a senior police officer from the Central Police Station, Umuahia gave the information.

Ndubueze said that he went with the police officer to the spot, where he identified the remains as his father’s.

“I personally went with the officer to the place and I identified the body as my father,” he said, adding that he noticed a slight bruise on one of his father’s thumbs.

Ndubueze also said that while in the abductors’ custody, his father urged his mother to raise the money for the ransom.

He disclosed that his father suffered from diabetes and hypertension before the incident.

According to him, the cause of death will be ascertained after an autopsy.

He regretted that hoodlums could commit such a heinous crime in  broad day,  in the city, unchallenged.

He, however, appealed to security operatives in the state to rise to the challenge of providing security for lives and property.

The Spokesman of the Abia State Police Command, Mr Geoffrey Ogbonna, confirmed the incident in a telephone interview with NAN.

He said that investigation was still going on, adding that no arrest had been made.

Ogbonna appealed to the public to assist the command with useful information that could help to track down the perpetrators of the crime.

He said that the police were not resting on their oars in their determination to checkmate the gradual return of violent crimes, especially kidnapping in Abia.