Activation locked Ipad mini...

so i recently purchased a Ipad mini from facebook buy sell trade and i forgot to check to see if it was unlinked from the previous owner... my fault for not checking... i have it here with me and it is activation locked.. i tried plenty of times to get a hold of the owner and he would bare answer me... i called apple to check if it was stolen and they said it was not.... i need some help... is there any way to remove the activation lock