From Staff Writer
The Edo State Police Command has made a breakthrough in a kidnapping case involving the abduction and murder of a 56-year-old farmer, Henry Ohiengbonmwan, who was reported missing on 9 May 2025.
This was disclosed in a statement signed by the Command’s Public Relations Officer, CSP Moses Joel Yamu, on Tuesday.
According to the statement, Ohiengbonmwan was kidnapped from his farm at Igueze Community in Ovia North East Local Government Area. Following a report lodged on 13 May, operatives of the Anti-Kidnapping Unit launched an investigation, leveraging technical intelligence to trace and arrest one suspect, 33-year-old Bassey Nyong Umeh of Oron Community in Akwa Ibom State.
Upon interrogation, Umeh allegedly confessed to conspiring with four others—previously hired by the victim to work on his farm—to kidnap, murder, and bury him in a shallow grave within the same premises.
The suspect subsequently led investigators to the site, where the decomposed body of the victim was recovered after due forensic procedures.
Efforts are ongoing to apprehend the remaining accomplices who are currently at large.
Reacting to the development, the Edo State Commissioner of Police, CP Monday Agbonika, urged business owners and farmers to properly vet individuals before offering them employment, stressing that background checks could prevent future tragedies.
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