Image Source:saharareporters.com
As the search for the escaped prime suspect in the serial killings in Akinyele Council of Oyo State, Sunday Shodipe, continues, monarchs in the area have gone spiritual and indeed dispatched local
hunters to fish him out.
Shodipe, 19-year old who was marched around by the Oyo State Police Command last month, escaped from the Mokola Police State, where he was jailed, last week.
Efforts are being made to re-arrest him, including the dispatch of crack detectives to the state by the Nigeria Police Force (NPF), a marching order by Governor Seyi Makinde and a N500, 000 bounty for his arrest e.t.c.
Two traditional rulers in the council, the Oniroko of Iroko, Oba Olasunkanmi Abioye, and Alakinyele of Akinyele, Oba James Odeniran told The Guardian that they were going spiritual to fish out the suspect from wherever he was hiding.
The Oba Abioye said: “We are going to make some sacrifices. We believe that after the sacrifices, we will fish him out. With the power of God, he will use his legs to come out. God will accept the sacrifices and make it possible for us to fish him.
“Our hunters are scattered all over, searching for him. They are working assiduously now. We believe that if he has certain powers, sacrifices will destroy those powers.
“I felt embarrassed, because we didn’t expect that the Oyo State Police Command can do such thing to the public, because we depended on them seriously. The commissioner of Police and his officers are working hard with our hunters to get this boy.
“So, when I heard that he escaped from the cell, it was very embarrassing to the traditional council in Ibadan land. We are not happy with it.
“I want to appeal to our governor not to take this with lightly. He should come up with a strong decision with the federal government and Inspector General of Police (IGP), Mohammed Adamu.
“He committed the first offence in Akinyele town, but he doesn’t stay there. He started committing the offence in Akinyele town before he went round the local government.”
On his part, Oba Odeniran added: “We are doing everything possible to fish him out. Our local hunters, Agbekoya, Soluderu and OPC are out there searching for him. We are also going traditional and performing some sacrifices to ensure we fish him out.”
“Really, I could not believe it; it came as a surprise to me. When the last person was killed, Funmilayo Oladeji, also called Mama Toyin, people were condoling me.
“It was around that time that Barakat’s father came to me, saying his brother sighted the serial killer (Shodipe) that killed his daughter somewhere around Elewure here in Akinyele town. I thought it could not be true, believing there was no way he could have escaped.
“At that point, I sent two of my palace boys to go and confirm if truly he was sighted at Elewure. But alas, when they came back, they confirmed that he even drank tea at Elewure.
“As soon as he left Elewure, he passed through the road that leads to the house of the woman that was killed. People said he was the one that killed the last woman, but they were confused as to whether he was actually the one or not, because the Police had not declared him wanted. Some even challenged him, asking if he was the one that committed those acts and he answered in affirmative.
“By that time, the problem became who would bell the cat. And nobody came to tell me; I heard about it latter, if I were told, I would have ordered my hunters to get him arrested. What I did was that I gathered all the hunters, OPC and other people connected with security to search for him. They were there, but they could not find him.”
It was found that Shodipe did not have a permanent abode in the past two years and his friends and family members abandobed him when he started behaving rebellious, people in the area were excited when he was arrested believing he had met his waterloo when he was paraded by the Police.
But their hope of having a secure community was short-lived, as Shodipe escaped from the Police custody, forcing many to run away from the community.
The murder of a 29-old-year Azeezat Somuyiwa at Ijefun area on June 4 aroused the curiosity of Nigerians that the killings might have a more sinister undertone than happenstance.
According to a source who gave the story to The Guardian about the escape: “The prison authorities are no longer taking inmates, so there was no way they would take him to court and remand him in prison; hence they had to take him to Police detention facilities.
“It was said that 85 per cent of those detained at Iyaganku CID tested positive for COVID-19 and they couldn’t take inmates there again. They needed to decentralise and that was why he was taken to Mokola Police Station.
“Unfortunately for Mokola Police Station, when the new Commissioner of Police (CP) resumed, he transferred many Divisional Police Officers (DPOs) in order to rejig the state Command. A female DPO is in now charge of Mokola Division.
“Unfortunately, a high-profile accused person has been transferred to her. The Inspector that was detailed to where they were locked said the inmates were complaining of heat and wanted to shower. He conceded to them taking their bathe, against the advice, according to what I heard, of his colleagues not to allow them to go to the premises. He gave water to the suspect within the premises on a compassionate grounds or other ground or whether he was charmed, nobody knows. The whole thing happened in the night.
“The suspect removed his clothes and he took off. The Police officer shot a single gunshot to scare him, but the boy never waited and he escaped. The inspector and one other officer have been subjected to orderly room trial and recommended for dismissal. All of them in the station and even DCP and ACP of Iyagankun CID were queried.
“Probably because of the embarrassment, it took the Police three days to disclose that he had escaped. Maybe they thought he would be rearrested and put back, but they didn’t make any effort until the Akinyele protest happened and the Alakinyele of Akinyele sent emissaries to the Police. That was when they disclosed that he had escaped and that spoilt the whole saga.
“If they had made it known immediately, when some saw him at Akinyele, they would have arrested him. The public announcement being made by the Police should been done the first day he escaped.”
However, on Sunday, August 16, Enwonwu explained how an off-duty Inspector made the prime suspect escaped, stating that Shodipe escaped on Tuesday, August 11 about 7 pm, adding that two policemen had been arrested in connection with the escape.
He further explained that an Inspector who was not on duty collected the keys to the cell and opened the cell to take the suspect to have his bath and from there, the said killer ran away.
The Inspector-General of Police (IGP), Muhammed Adamu, said the Nigeria Police Force (NPF) had deployed additional investigative detectives to fasten the efforts of the state Command in ongoing manhunt and efforts aimed at re-arresting Shodipe.
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