Men of the Ogun State Police Command have arrested five suspects, including an herbalist, for dismembering a 45-year-old housewife, Memunat Akinde, and a motorcyclist, Ibikunle Ajose.
The suspects allegedly committed the offence in the Ado-Odo/Ota Local Government Area of the state after the victims were declared missing on October 1, 2020.
The Police Public Relations Officer in the state, DSP Abimbola Oyeyemi, disclosed this in a statement on Wednesday.
Oyeyemi said the police in the state unravelled the mystery behind the sudden disappearance of Akinde and Ajose following the arrest of the suspects.
The PPRO added that the victims went missing on October 1, 2020, when the woman, who was a fish seller, left her house in the Idoleyin area of Ado-Odo to a nearby market to buy fish.
According to Oyeyemi, Akinde hired Ajose to convey her to the market, but both never returned home.
He said, “This prompted the woman’s husband to lodge a complaint at the Ado-Odo Divisional Headquarters, where the case was formally recorded.
“The case was later transferred to the Anti-Kidnapping Unit of the state Criminal Investigation and Intelligence Department on the orders of the Commissioner of Police, Edward Ajogun, who gave the team a marching order to unravel the mystery behind the disappearance of the two within the shortest possible period.
“The team there and then embarked on an intelligence and technical-based investigation and the efforts paid off when one of the suspects, Okediran Monsuru, was traced to Badagry and apprehended.
“His arrest led to the apprehension of three others, Ajaoba Monday, Akewusola Wajud and Nupo Pona.”
Oyeyemi said the suspects confessed to have slaughtered and dismembered the victims on the instructions of one Lebo.
He added that police recovered the woman’s head at the herbalist’s shrine, while Lebo, said to be the contractor, is still being hunted.
The PPRO stated, “The four of them confessed that they were working for a notorious land-grabber, whom they simply identified as Lebo; they stated that they accosted the victims at Abisoye village, abducted them and took them to an uncompleted building in a bushy area, tied their hands and legs, and later called their principal on the phone to inform him that they had succeeded in getting the victims.
“They confessed further that when the said Lebo came, he ordered them to slaughter the two victims. The trio of Okediran Monsuru, Ajaoba Monday and Akewusola Wajud held the victims down, while Nupo Pona slaughtered them with a sharp cutlass.
“Having killed them, the fifth suspect, Dasu Sunday, who is an herbalist, was invited, and on his arrival, they cut the victims into pieces and loaded their parts into a sack brought by the herbalist, who took the parts away for money-making rituals.
“The head of the woman was recovered at the herbalist’s shrine. The five suspects, Okediran Monsuru, Ajaoba Monday, Akewusola Wajud, Nupo Pona and Dasu Sunday, are all in police custody, while a serious manhunt has been launched for their fleeing principal, simply known as Lebo.”
Oyeyemi said the CP had directed that the suspects be charged, while the fleeing Lebo and others who might be involved in the crime should be hunted down.