TheCable

The police command in Ogun says it has arrested three suspects in connection with the murder of a couple — Kehinde and Bukola Fatinoye — and their son.

Abimbola Oyeyemi, the Ogun police spokesperson, announced the arrest of the suspects in a statement on Friday.

The suspects were identified as Lekan Adekanbi, Ahmed Odetola, and Waheed Adeniji.

BACKGROUND

On January 1, the couple was found dead at their residence in Ibara government reservation area (GRA) in Abeokuta, the state capital.

The incident was said to have happened shortly after the couple — former employees of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and the Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta (FUNAAB), respectively — returned from a church service to usher in the new year.

The building belonging to the couple was also set ablaze, while Oreoluwa, their son, and another person were reportedly kidnapped.

Days later, Oreoluwa’s body was found floating in a river along Adigbe-Obada road in Abeokuta.

‘DRIVER BEHIND KILLING OF THE COUPLE’

Giving the details of the incident, Oyeyemi said Adekanbi, the couple’s driver, was initially arrested “based on circumstantial evidence”.

Speaking further, the police spokesperson said on January 2, the driver fainted in the police cell and was rushed to the hospital for medical care.

Adekanbi, however, reportedly escaped from the hospital through the fence while receiving treatment.

On January 21, police officers arrested the driver in his “hideout” at Abeokuta.

The driver was said to have told the police that he masterminded the murder of the couple because they refused to increase his salary and rejected a loan request.

“He confessed further that he took the step because the couple refused to increase his salary, and that he approached them for a loan to buy motorcycle, but they didn’t oblige him,” the statement reads.

“He stated further that on that fateful day, himself and his two accomplices waited for the couple to come back from crossover service since he has access to the house and they pounced on them immediately they entered the house.

“When asked why the Alsatian dog in the house did not attack them, he stated that the dog is very familiar with him being the person who always feeds it.

“Having got hold of the couple, they forced the husband, Kehinde Fatinoye, to transfer money from his account to Kuda bank account of Ahmed Odetola, but the transfer failed.

“It was then Lekan Adekanbi gave the deceased his own Access Bank account to which the sum of N1,102,000 was transferred at gunpoint.

“Since Lekan realised that his identity has been known through his bank account, he decided with others to terminate the life of the couple, consequent upon which Waheed Adeniyi a.k.a Koffi took a knife from their kitchen and slaughtered the husband, Kehinde Fatinoye, while Lekan Adekanbi used sledge hammer he purposely brought for the operation to hit the wife, Bukola Fatinoye, on the head and she died on the spot.

“While the operation was going on, the only son of the deceased, Oreoluwa Fatinoye, and their adopted son, Felix Olorunyomi, walked in and the hoodlums pounced on them too, tied them with rope and drove them to Ogun River Bridge at Adigbe where they threw the two of them into the river.

“Luck however smiled on Felix Olorunyomi when the rope on his hand loosened and he was able to swim out of the river. But Oreoluwa was not that lucky as his dead body was recovered the following day.

“Waheed Adeniyi a.k.a Koffi and Ahmed Odetola a.k.a Akamo were both apprehended at Ogere on Thursday, 9th of February, 2023. The three suspects who are members of Aye confraternity have all confessed to their various roles in the gruesome and callous murder of the family.”