Kidnapped Journalists in Anambra: CAF Paid For Their Flights To Uyo Initially, Says Victim’s Son

Babajide Omoniyi, the only son of late Kolawole Omoniyi, has narrated how the former staff of SuperSport was murdered in Anambra while traveling to cover the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) qualifying game between Nigeria and Libya.

Mr Babajide who disclosed this to FIJ on Sunday, said that his father, who trained at the Nigerian Television Authority (NTA), Jos, was killed on Wednesday by gunmen en route to Godswill Akpabio Stadium, Akwa Ibom.

Hé said he first heard that his father had been kidnapped. Babajide was trying to make plans to put cars up for sale so he could be able to afford the ransom whenever the abductors called. However, he was shocked to learn that they had killed his father.

“My father was a former staff of SuperSport, a subsidiary of MultiChoice, and was on his way to the match before he died. He was working as a freelance [journalist],” Babajide told FIJ.

“He is the one who handles the monitor to stream the match, he usually operates and mounts the camera when Nigeria is playing on home soil, right from when he was with SuperSport. He has been doing the job for a while and would usually travel a lot in the course of his duty.

“On the day after he died, my mum called me at 1:57 am to say she had not heard from him which was unusual. A well-kept tradition in my family is that anyone travelling would keep updating others about the progress of their trip.

“But we didn’t hear from him and by Thursday morning, I had called him so many times but his lines were still switched off. I then had to take time off work to travel down to where my mum was.”

Babajide further said that before he arrived at their family home, his mum had gotten in touch with someone who said she heard he had been kidnapped.

“At this point, I was planning to put his cars on sale should the abductors call for ransom,” Babajide told FIJ.

“This was without us knowing he had been dead since around 4 pm on Wednesday, and before we could even confirm this, it took tons of phone calls. When I finally found someone who could confirm the news, they said he had died and his phone had been taken away.”

Babajide said no one has reached out to their family about the demise of his 66-year-old father and he worries that something might have happened to his body.

“No one has reached out to us. I don’t even know where my dad’s body is. I just spoke to family members, and they’re worried that the longer the body remains unattended, we don’t know what could happen to it. How can we be sure that his body has been properly embalmed, like they said? How can we be certain it’s being properly taken care of?” he told FIJ.

“How can we be sure we will receive a complete body, not one that’s decomposed when it’s finally brought home to Ibadan? We need to bury him. He doesn’t deserve to be treated like this. Yes, he’s dead now, but he didn’t deserve this humiliation. He worked too hard for that. He trained at NTA Jos, where he began his career, and I wasn’t even born then. I wasn’t born when he started working.

“Someone who worked for over 37 years, was dedicated to his duty and reached the age of 66 while still active and agile doesn’t deserve this kind of humiliation.

“Since Wednesday, we haven’t heard anything from anyone. The only information I’ve gotten is from the calls I’ve made myself.

I heard that the Confederation of African Football (CAF) actually paid for their flights before deciding to send them by road. I also heard that the first person they contacted to transport them agreed but was rejected because the company representative said it was too expensive, so they found someone else.

“The route they took went through a place called Iseke, in Ihiala Local Government, Anambra State. I called an Igbo friend, and when I mentioned that location, he said that anyone familiar with the East knows not to travel that route. Even though they say the person they hired is dead, he should have known better than to take them through that area.

“I just want my dad’s body so we can bury him in peace. He wasn’t a destitute. He has a family and a grieving wife, even if it’s a small family. We don’t want anything to do with justice; we just want to bury him. His body should be handed over to us. If anything follows, fine. If nothing does, who are we to say otherwise? I was told his body is in Asaba, and that the military moved it from the scene.”

Babajide explained to FIJ that, contrary to the circulating news that his father is a journalist with SuperSport, his father had since left the outlet after they lost their broadcasting licence.

“All the news circulating that he is a SuperSport staff, but it wasn’t the TV station that sent them on that trip. They lost their TV licence from the platform a long time ago. People are just spreading lies,” he said.

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