• They refused to increase my salary or give me a loan, he says
By Christopher Oji and Laide Raheem
The Ogun State Police Command has arrested three suspects involved in the killing of the Fatinoye couple, and their only son, who were murdered on the New year’s Eve in the state capital Abeokuta.
The mastermind of the gruesome murder, a driver to the couple, Lekan Adekanbi (a.k.a Koroba), told police investigators that he invited Ahmed Odetola (a.k.a Akamo) and Waheed Adeniji (a.k.a Koffi), who are all members of Aiye confraternity to assist him to wipe out the family for their alleged unjust treatment of him.
He was quoted by the police as saying that his anger against the family was that “I requested that they should increase my salary; they refused. Then I asked them for a loan to purchase a motorcycle, yet they refused. So I invited my two friends to help deal with them.
“On the fateful day, we waited for the couple to come back from the Crossover Service, since I had access to the house. And immediately they came in, we pounced on them.
“The Alsatian dog in the house did not attack us because it was very familiar with me, being the person who always fed it.
“Having got hold of the couple, we forced the husband, Kehinde, to transfer money from his account to “Kuda” bank account of Ahmed Odetola, but the transfer failed. It was then that I gave my boss my own Access Bank account to which the sum of N1,102, 000, was transferred at gunpoint.
Since I realised that my identity had been known through my bank account, I decided with others to terminate the life of the couple, consequent upon which Adeniyi took a knife from their kitchen, and slaughtered Oga Kehinde, while I used a sledge hammer that I purposely brought for the operation to hit Oga’s wife, Bukola on the head. And she died on the spot.
“While the operation was going on, the only son of the deceased, Oreoluwa, and their adopted son, Felix Olorunyomi, walked in and we pounced on them too. We tied them with ropes, and drove them to Ogun River Bridge, at Adigbe, where we threw the two of them into the river.”
The couple, Kehinde and Bukola Fatinoye, and their only son, Oreoluwa Fatinoye, were killed in the most gruesome manner on the eve of New year celebration immediately they returned from the Cross-over Service. The murderers also set their bodies ablaze in order to cover their tracks.
However, the suspects – Lekan Adekanbi( a.k.a Koroba), Ahmed Odetola ( a.k.a Akamo) and Waheed Adeniji (a.k.a Koffi) were arrested following painstaking intelligence-based investigation embarked upon by men of the command.
According to Ogun State Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), SP Abimbola Oyeyemi, “upon the report of the dastardly act, the Commissioner of Police directed the homicide section of the State Criminal Investigation Department( SCID), to take over the case and ensure that the culprits were brought to justice.
“In the course of investigation, Lekan Adekanbi, a driver to the deceased family, was arrested based on circumstantial evidence, while investigation continued. Adekanbi suddenly collapsed in the cell on the 2nd of January 2023, and he was rushed to the hospital for medical care. 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 in the case.
“There and then, the CP 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 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 efforts which yielded positive results, when Adekanbi was apprehended in his hideout, somewhere in Abeokuta on the 21st of January 2023.
“On interrogation, Adekanbi, who has been the couple’s driver since 2018, confessed to being the mastermind of the dastardly act. He stated that he invited the other two suspects Ahmed Odetola (a.k.a Akamo), and Waheed Adeniyi (a.k.a Koffi ) to join him in order to rob the couple. 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.
“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.”
He said one of the boys thrown in the river, Felix Olorunyomi, was able to swim out of the river when the rope on his hand loosed. “But Oreoluwa was not that lucky as his dead body was recovered the following day.”
He said Adeniyi (a.k.a Koffi), and Odetola (a.k.a Akamo) were both apprehended at Ogere on Thursday February 9 2023.
“The suspects, who are members of Aye confraternity, have confessed to their various roles in the gruesome and callous murder of the family.”
Meanwhile, Commissioner of Police, Frank Mba, has ordered that the suspects be charged to court as soon as possible.