Five suspected murderers arrested by Ogun State Police Command have opened up on how they conspired with their leader to kill two victims and get their body parts for sale to money ritual makers.
The suspects were identified as Okediran Monsuru, Ajaoba Monday, Akewusola Wajud, Dasu Sunday a.k.a Were Ifa, and Nupo Pona.
The confession was disclosed by the state Police Public Relations Officer, DSP Abimbola Oyeyemi on Wednesday, December 23, 2020.
Reporters At Large learnt that the female victim, 45-year-old Mrs Memunat Akinde, and her male counterpart, Ibikunle Ajose, a motorcyclist, were murdered on October 1.
Oyeyemi said that Mrs Akinde, a fish seller, got a motorcyclist to convey her from her Idoleyin community residence, in Ado-Odo Ota Local Government Area, to a fish market.
Surprisingly, the two went missing on that day.
After fruitless search for his wife, Chief Saliu Alabi Akinde, who spoke with Reporters At Large, lodged a report at Ado-Odo police station.From there, the PPRO said that the case was transferred to the Anti-Kidnapping Unit of the State Criminal Investigation and Intelligence Department at Eleweran, Abeokuta, for further investigation, on the orders of state Commissioner of Police, Edward Awolowo Ajogun.
Reporters At Large further learnt that police efforts paid off when they carried out intelligence and technical-based investigation.
One of the suspects, Okediran Monsuru, was reported to have been traced to Badagry and arrested.
Based on his confession, three other suspects, Monday, Wajud and Pona were also nabbed.
“Four of them confessed that they were working for a notorious land grabber who they simply identified as Lebo.
“They stated that they accosted the two victims along the road at Abisoye village, from where they abducted them to an uncompleted building in a bushy area.
“The suspects said that they tied both victims’ hands and legs, and called their principal on phone, informing him that they had succeeded in getting two victims.
“They confessed further that when the said Lebo came, he ordered them to slaughter the two victims,” Oyeyemi stated.
In his confession, one of the suspects, Pona, said that he was the one killed the victims with cutlass, after they were held by Monsuru, Monday and Wajud.
Pona, who opened up, told the police that “it was one of us, Agbadi (at large), who insisted that we must kill the our victims, in obedience to our principal, Lebo.
“This was after the victims pleaded to be spared, as we had accused them of coming to spy on us.
“Agbadi was the one who handed the cutlass over to me.”
After the deed, the fifth suspect, Sunday, a native doctor, was invited to come. On his arrival, the killer gang continued their acts by dismembering their victims into parts.
The parts were said to have been stuffed in a sack and taken away by Sunday.
Some of the body parts of late Mrs Akinde had been recovered, and kept in a morgue, it was learnt.
Narrating the sordid experience he went through, the husband of the deceased woman, Chief Akinde said: “On October 1, at about 10am, my wife told me she wanted to go and buy fish at Onilogbo. Later in the evening, our children called me to say that their mother had not returned home.
“I told them to call her customers. But one told us my wife did not get to her.
“I went to where she used to buy fish and did not see anyone. I went to report at the police station and they tried to find out whether there was an accident, but no accident was reported.
“The following morning, on October 2, my family members went with me to the fish market. We were told that my wife actually called that she was coming to purchase some fish but they didn’t see her. They called her, but her line was not going through.
“I went to report at Ado-Odo police station.
On October 7, the Area Commander took about 10 vehicles to search the surrounding villages. The bowl she took to buy the fish was found in one of them.
“I did paid adverts on a radio station in Lagos State to seek for my missing wife.
“On October 20, I was called by someone who claimed that my wife and the bike rider were alive, asking me to pay N50,000 for them to be released.
“I paid, but till October 24, they were not released.
He was later caught and we discovered he was a fraudster, who said the action he took when he heard of my phone number on the radio was his means of survival.
“The police, including the Area Commanders at Ado Odo and Badagry, as well as Divisional Police Officers really tried.
“On November 7, they got a clue on one of the suspects.
“He was arrested on December 9, confessed to the crime and mentioned others with whom he worked to kill my wife and bike rider.
“A native doctor, Sunday Were Ifa, residing at Iledi in Ado Odo, also confessed and said he took some of the body parts to bury at Ogun shrine.”
The widower, who expressed appreciation to CP Ajogun, Area Commanders of Sango and Badagry, DPO Ado-Odo, So Safe Corps and community members, said that the police really tried their best in finding the killers.
The widower pleaded with the police not to relent in the efforts to get other suspects.
“The police should save us from Egun people, especially those in Idoleyin community, who are killing the Yoruba. They don’t know that law exists.
“I’ve not been able to work. I’ve been taking care of the children. Our last child is about five years old, and I’m the one cooking fo them so that they would not feel the absence of their mother too much.
“The police and court of law should let me get justice. They should not let me suffer in vain, Chief Akinde said.
Reporters At Large learnt that the suspects were arraigned in court on Wednesday, and had been remanded in prison, while the case was adjourned.
It was also exclusively gathered that another fleeing suspect (names withheld) was arrested on Monday, December 21, while the police commissioner had ordered a manhunt for the gang leader, Lebo, and the remaining suspects.
The freshly arrested suspect was said to have been involved in a similar murder of a surveyor, called Long, two years ago.
The late surveyor’s body was also said to have been cut into many parts and sold to money ritual makers.
Though the fresh suspect and his accomplices were nabbed through intelligence and technical- based investigative on, none of body parts was recovered from them, as they had been sold out.
After his arrest, the Reporters At Large reliably gathered that he escaped from custody during the burning of Obada police station by protesters in 2019.
Ajogun commended the investigating team for their determination and resilience in bringing the culprits to book.
