The Nigerian community in Atlanta, United States, has expressed outrage over the gruesome killing of its member, Mr Oloniyo Abuda, by kidnappers back home in Edo.
Dr Victor Ubani, President of the Nigerians in Diaspora Organisation (NIDO), Atlanta chapter, conveyed the community’s reaction on Thursday.
Speaking to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in New York, Ubani condemned the killing of Abuda, a NIDO member, describing it as callous and inhuman.
Based in Atlanta, Georgia, Abuda was reportedly abducted alongside three family members on the Benin bypass on Saturday.
Reports say he was traveling from his hometown, Fugar, in Edo, to Lagos to catch his flight back to the U.S. when the kidnappers struck.
His abductors were said to have shot him dead after he slumped during a forced march to their den in the forest.
Police operatives found Aduda’s decomposing body in the forest on Wednesday after ransom had reportedly been paid to free him and the other hostages.
The NIDO president called on the police and other security agencies to fish out the perpetrators and bring them to justice.
“This was a man feeding about 1,000 people in the village and training about 200 others in various schools.
“He was serving humanity, but look at the way he was killed like a goat.
“This thing has been happening unabated in Nigeria, now it has happened to one of us. No! We cannot take this anymore.
“It is time we demanded decisive action from government to put an end to the reign of kidnappers and terrorists in Nigeria,” he said.
Also reacting to the incident, the Chairman of the Board of Trustees, NIDO Americas, Mr Obed Monago, called for the restoration of the death penalty for kidnapping in Nigeria.
Describing Abuda’s death as shocking, Monago told NAN that he saw a video of the deceased dancing to a Nigerian music and bubbling with life the night before his kidnap
Spokesperson of the police command in Edo, Chidi Nwabuzor, who confirmed the incident, said security agents killed one of the abductors and arrested three others.
Nwabuzor told newsmen on Wednesday that the police were still in the forest searching for the other perpetrators.
