The police in Northamptonshire, in the East Midlands of the United Kingdom, announced it found a body while searching for Gboyega Odubanjo, a Nigerian poet studying in the United Kingdom, on Thursday.
Odubanjo had been declared missing for a couple of days. Media reports indicated that the 27-year-old British-Nigerian poet was last seen at Shambala festival, a festival of arts held from August 24 to August 27. One of his works was read on the last day of the event.
He was said to have gone missing on Saturday. Consequently, the police were informed and they commenced a specialised search around Kelmarsh Hall, the venue of the festival.
A dead body was eventually found at the venue on Thursday, according to Metro UK.
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“Our thoughts are with the man’s family at this very difficult time, and we would ask the media and members of the public to not contact them and respect their privacy,” Johnny Campbell, a Detective Chief Inspector, said.
“We would like to thank all those involved in the search efforts, including the volunteer members of Northamptonshire Search and Rescue and the specialist search-trained officers from other forces who supported our efforts.
“We would also like to thank all those who have supported our investigation by speaking to officers or getting in touch with information. Officers from Northamptonshire Police will now prepare a file for the coroner.”
FIJ further gathered that the authorities had not done a formal identification of the deceased but Odubanjo’s family had been informed of the development.
Odubanjo was studying for a PhD in creative writing at the University of Hertfordshire.
Some of his works include Oil Music, shortlisted by The Guardian UK as poem of the month in August 2021, and Brother.
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