The Edo State Police Command has recovered the decomposed corpse of a 56-year-old farmer, Henry Oyagbomwan, who was killed and buried in a shallow grave by five of his farm workers.
Newsmata.com.ng reports that even after killing him, the killers still attempted to extort N60m from the unsuspecting family as ransom.
According to the confession of one of the apprehended suspects, the deceased farm owner was reportedly killed after he sold pineapples worth N900,000 at his farm in Igueze village, Ovia Northeast local government area of Edo State.
The suspect revealed that the incident happened on May 13th, 2025.
Police sources said the five workers collected the money from the pineapple sales, killed their employer and fled to different locations.
After killing the victim, the workers called the family and demanded a ransom of N60m, but the family insisted on talking to their patriarch before making payment.
The workers then demanded for N300,000 and cut off all communications after collecting the money.
Following reports to the police, men of the anti-kidnapping squad went after the suspects. They tracked one of them, Bassey Uyong Umeh, to Akwa Ibom State where he was arrested in a creek.
Umeh, who spilled the beans, took the police operatives to the spot where he was buried, and the decomposing corpse was recovered.
Son of the deceased, Festus, said the cell phones of other suspects had been switched off.
The spokesman of the Edo State Police Command, Moses Yamu, superintendent of police, SP, said investigation would continue until other fleeing suspects were arrested.