The suspects in the killing of the couple
Eko Hot Blog reports that Lekan Adekanbi, the suspected mastermind behind the murder of a former employee of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Mr Kehinde and his wife, Bukola Fatinoye, on New Year Day in Ogun State, has narrated the motive behind the gruesome act.
The suspect gave the account when he was paraded by the Ogun State Police Command on Friday.
He disclosed that he contracted two cultists, Ahmed Odetola a.k.a Akamo; and Waheed Adeniyi, aka Koffi, to join him in the robbery and kill the couple and their only son, Oreoluwa. The police also paraded his mother and fiancée.
Adekanbi, who earlier escaped from police custody, claimed the failure on part of the deceased to grant his salary increment and loan request led him to the act.
“I took the step because the couple refused to increase my salary, and when I approached them for a loan to buy a motorcycle, they didn’t oblige,” he said.
“We forced the husband to transfer money from his account to the Kuda Bank account of Ahmed Adetola, but the transfer failed.
“Since that failed, I gave the deceased my Access Bank account, to which the sum of N1,102,000 was transferred at gunpoint.
“When I realised that my identity had been known through my bank account, I decided with others to terminate their lives. That was when Waheed Adeniyi, aka Koffi, took a knife from their kitchen and slaughtered the husband, Kehinde Fatinoye, while I used a sledgehammer to hit the wife, Bukola Fatinoye, in the head and she died on the spot.”
The slain couple
Akanbi said he started working with the couple in 2010 without a salary increase and several attempts to convince them to jerk up his salary failed.
He said contrary to the belief that he brought the couple from the church after the crossover night, he left their house hours before the service and returned with his gang to lay an ambush for them.
Adekanbi said his gang pounced on the couple immediately they entered the house.
He recalled restraining an Alsatian dog at the gate because he was familiar with the animal and usually fed it.
On how they got the couple’s son, Oreoluwa and their adopted child Felix Olorunyomi, the suspect noted that while the operation was on, the duo walked in.
He said their hands were tied to the back with rope, as the gang drove them to the Ogun River Bridge at Adigbe, where they were thrown into the river. However, Olorunyomi survived.
Adekanbi said the money they collected from the couple was shared among the three of them a few hours after the robbery at One-Ata, Abeokuta.
He said when the news got to them that Olorunyomi survived, one of his gang members, Odetola, regretted not shooting him dead.
Adekanbi said he parted with N500,000 out of the N1,102,000 transferred by the late husband.
His pregnant fiancée, who identified herself only as Tope, said she met him in August 2022.
She said she harboured him after the incident without knowing the magnitude of the crime.
Briefing journalists about how the suspects were arrested, the Police Public Relations Officer, Abimbola Oyeyemi, said: “In the course of the investigation, Lekan Adekanbi, a driver to the deceased family, was arrested based on circumstantial evidence while the investigation continues.
“The suspect, Lekan Adekanbi suddenly collapsed in the cell on the 2nd of January 2023, and he was rushed to the hospital for medical care.
“But while in the hospital receiving treatment, he suddenly jumped from the bed and escaped through the fence of the hospital.
“His escape further confirmed the police suspicion of his involvement. The Commissioner of Police ordered the State anti-kidnapping unit to join forces with the homicide unit in order to get the escaped driver and his accomplices arrested.
“The two teams, in compliance with the CP’s directive, embarked on a technical and intelligence-driven investigation and traced the movement of the suspect to his elder brother in Iseyin, Oyo State but he had left the place before the arrival of the police.
“The teams further intensified their efforts which yielded positive results when Lekan Adekanbi was apprehended in his hideout somewhere in Abeokuta on the 21st of January 2023.
“Waheed Adeniyi a.k.a Koffi and Ahmed Odetola a.k.a Akamo were apprehended at Ogere on Thursday 9th of February 2023.
“The three suspects who are members of Aiye confraternity have all confessed to their various roles in the gruesome and callous murder of the family.”
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