Nigeria: Kidnappers Kill Banker After Collecting Ransom

15 January 2025

The victim was kidnapped and held in captivity for days before the kidnappers later contacted her family to demand ransom.

Gunmen, suspected to be kidnappers, have killed a banker in Anambra State despite collecting ransom from her family.

The victim, Ifeoma Onyekwelu, was kidnapped on 13 December in the Onitsha Area of the state, PREMIUM TIMES reliably gathered.

The victim is said to have been a staff member of the Polaris Bank.

She was held in captivity for days before the abductors later contacted her family and demanded a ransom.

Sources said the family paid about N25 million as ransom to the kidnappers.

A relative, who asked not to be named, told PREMIUM TIMES that they were heartbroken that despite the ransom payment, the kidnappers still killed the victim.

"We paid in two instalments. But we discovered her corpse near Ideani Junction along the Nnobi-Alor Road," he said.

Ideani Junction is in Idemili South Local Government Area of Anambra State.

The relatives said they suspected Ms Onyekwelu might have been killed because she identified one of the kidnappers.

A photograph of the victim's corpse dumped along the road has been circulating on social media.

The photograph showed the victim was blindfolded by her killers.

Police speak

When contacted on Wednesday morning, the police spokesperson in Anambra State, Tochukwu Ikenga, confirmed the development to PREMIUM TIMES.

Mr Ikenga, a superintendent of police, said the police received information about the victim whose corpse was dumped by kidnappers along the Nnobi-Alor Road.

"The body has been evacuated, and the photographs have been escalated for investigation. Efforts are ongoing to uncover the circumstances surrounding her death," he said.

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