The former Deputy Vice Chancellor of Ekiti State University, Ado Ekiti, Prof. Olorunfemi Olaofe, who was kidnapped on 9 July, has been found dead.
According to sources, the body of the 79-year-old retired university teacher was discovered in a shallow grave in a remote area. However, it remains unclear whether his death was due to natural causes related to his age or if he was murdered by his kidnappers.
The retired don was kidnapped from his house alongside his security guard on 9 July, over three weeks ago, and driven away in his car, which the police said they recovered days after the kidnap incident.
Sources said that the kidnappers initially demanded a N50 million ransom and later remained incommunicado.
The Commissioner of Police, Ekiti State Command, Adeniran Akinwale, who confirmed Olaofe’s death, said, “Yes, the professor has been found dead, and we are doing everything possible to exhume the body for burial.
“However, we have arrested many people, and you know the circumstances surrounding the incident. We suspect insider involvement, as the security man employed by the professor was the one who planned it.
“They (abductors) kidnapped the man along with him so that we would not suspect. In the process of rescuing him, we have arrested some people. I can’t say much about the security guard, but at the appropriate time, we will brief the public,” the police commissioner said.
While the search for the former university teacher lasted, members of the Are Ekiti Progressives Union, the Ekiti Council of Elders, and the Nigerian Universities Pensioners’ Association, EKSU Branch, had called on the security agencies and the state government to intensify efforts to rescue the old man alive.
Madukwe B. Nwabuisi is an accomplished journalist renown for his fearless reporting style and extensive expertise in the field. He is an investigative journalist, who has established himself as a kamikaze reporter.
