Students: Ondo poly lecturer killed by kidnappers was ‘loved by all’

Staff and students of Rufus Giwa Polytechnic (RUGIPO), Owo, in Ondo State, as well as people in the state are still mourning the death of a 52-year-old lecturer, Mr. Taiwo Akinyemi, who was murdered in cold blood by a gang of kidnappers last weekend.

Following the sad development, academic activities have been paralysed in the state polytechnic.

Mr. Akinyemi, a father of three, was abducted alongside three medical staff of the Federal Medical Centre (FMC), Owo, but while the rest have since regained freedom, the late lecturer was said to have been tied to a tree and shot dead after six days in the kidnappers den.

The four people were abducted near Amurin village along the Owo-Akure Road on their way to work.

The corpse of Akinyemi was said to have been found in a bush tied to a tree.

The Chairman of the Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Polytechnics, RUGIPO chapter, MR. Chris Olowolade, while addressing journalists, described the incident as unfortunate.

Mr. Olowolade said the union had entered into negotiation with the kidnappers in order to secure Akinyemi’s release but sadly lost him at the end.

He said the kidnappers placed a ransom of N100m on the late Akinyemi which nobody could afford, and that they reduced it to N7m after two days “and later grudgingly asked us to come up with N500,000. The money was taken to them, and the person who took it to them was directed by the kidnappers to where he should drop the money. They asked him to stop, reverse and move, just to confirm that he was the actual person bringing the money. But after some hours, they called that the man bringing the money should come back because they did not see the money, only for us to be called by the rector to go and identify a corpse. We rushed to the morgue and discovered that it was his corpse.”

The lecturer’s murder led to the suspension of the second semester examinations while students and staff of the institution moved round the school in a procession as a mark of respect for him.

The Governor of Ondo State, Rotimi Akeredolu, who was at the school to commiserate with the academic community, described the lecturer’s death as unfortunate.

Gov. Akeredolu said the state government and security operatives had tried to rescue Mr. Akinyemi.

He assured that the government would be committed to the security of lives and property, adding that he had directed security operatives in the state to increase patrol to curb the activities of kidnappers.

Spokesman of the state police command, Femi Joseph, said no arrest had yet been made but that they were on the trail of the kidnappers.

The state chapter of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) has called on lawyers in the state to stop defending kidnappers. Some students of the polytechnic told

that the lecturer was