An 18-year-old girl, Habibat Akinsanya, who had been reported missing, was tragically found dead on her father’s farm in Obasa, Mile 6, along Ajebo Road in Abeokuta, Ogun State.
Sources revealed on Monday that the young woman’s body was discovered on Sunday, bearing multiple machete wounds to her head and other parts of her body, with her hands bound behind her back. According to police sources, the victim had been sexually assaulted before being brutally murdered.
A police insider, who spoke on condition of anonymity, suggested that the heinous crime might be linked to a revenge attack against the family. However, the source declined to confirm whether the murder was connected to a cult-related reprisal.
Exclusive reports from the Ogun State Police Command indicate that the incident is being treated as a premeditated murder. The victim’s father, Shamsuddeen, had reported her missing to the Kemta Police Division on August 31, 2024.
The tragic sequence of events reportedly began on August 30, 2024, when Akinsanya left her father’s home to assist her sister at a Point of Sale business in the Kemta area. It is alleged that Onyeka, who has been identified as the prime suspect and a former employee of the victim’s father, lured Akinsanya under the pretense that her mother needed help with the cassava harvest on the family farm.
When the deceased’s sister couldn’t locate her at either the shop or at home, the family grew suspicious and reported the matter to the Kemta Police Division.
A police officer recounted, “The father informed the police that Akinsanya had gone to assist her sister at her Point of Sale shop on Mile 6, Ajebo Road. However, when the sister arrived, Akinsanya was nowhere to be found and did not return home.”
Contrary to initial assumptions, this case does not appear to involve kidnapping. The victim wasn’t forcibly taken but was lured under false pretenses. Once on the farm, she was restrained, sexually assaulted, and then murdered.
The father also received a suspicious phone call demanding money, which led the police to track the caller’s last known location in Oke Egunya, Totoro. However, the search was unsuccessful until a tip came in that the girl’s body had been found on her father’s farm.
Ogun State Police Command spokesperson, Omolola Odutola, confirmed on Monday that an investigation is underway to uncover the circumstances surrounding the murder, and a manhunt has been launched to apprehend the suspect, Onyeka, who remains at large.
“In missing person cases, we typically advise waiting 24 to 48 hours before filing a report, as some individuals return home within that period,” Odutola explained. “A manhunt is ongoing for Onyeka, and a discreet investigation has been initiated to bring those responsible to justice.”
