By Tola Gbadamosi & Ayodele Popoola

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A 52-year-old Akure- based socialite, Bayo Sunday popularly known as “Say Bayo” has been gruesomely murdered in cold blood by unknown assailants in Akure, Ondo State capital.

The Hope Metro gathered that the deceased was declared missing on Sunday, but his lifeless body was later found in his vehicle in the early hours of Monday in Ijapo area within Akure metropolis.

The man’s corpse was found naked inside his car on Monday morning by some residents and other passers-by at the junction of a Pentecostal Church in Ijapo Estate.

Sympatisers who arrived at the scene before his corpse was evacuated, told The Hope Metro that they noticed his killers hacked him on the forehead, with signs of acid bath on him and blood stains on his body and in the car.

Unconfirmed report said Bayo might have been killed elsewhere before his lifeless body was driven in his car to the spot, while service was going on at the Pentecostal church.

The incident has put residents of the area in shock, as the deceased was said to be unknown in the neighbourhood.

Eyewitnesses told The Hope Metro that a black-tinted Acura car in which the deceased corpse was found was sighted at the spot around  noon on Sunday and was there overnight.

Residents and passers-by were said to be suspicious when they saw the car on the same spot in the early hours of Monday.

Out of curiosity, some passers by moved close to the car, peeped through the tinted glass and saw a huge figure was lying in the car with his clothes already removed.

A resident on the street said the odour emanating from the car, also attracted passers- by, who called the attention of others and that prompted them to open the car, where they discovered the lifeless body.

As of the time of the discovery, The Hope Metro gathered that his corpse was found lying across the back seat of the car with his hands tied, while his shirt and jean trouser were found on the floor of the blood-stained car.

It was also gathered that marks of violence found on the man’s body suggested that he was beaten before being gruesomely murdered.

According to a family source, the deceased left his house on Sunday morning after receiving a call from some people believed to be his business partners.

She said,”We noticed he received series of calls early on Sunday. Thereafter, he dressed casually without saying where he was going. He also dropped his ATM cards behind, which was very unusual.

“He woke up early on the fateful day, to iron his clothes, as he was to attend a political meeting in the evening.

” We became worried when he didn’t come home on Sunday, especially when we called his lines severally, but they were switched off. So, we conducted a search party, before some people who knew him informed us on Monday that they saw his dead body in his vehicle in Ijapo.”

The Hope Metro learnt that his family had evacuated his remains to the morgue.

The gruesome murder of the deceased, it was learnt, had generated mixed reactions among residents and associates, who have called on security agencies to unmask his killers.

As at press time, the cause of his death remained sketchy. But  police sources who confirmed the incident said investigation was ongoing.