Sunday Shodipe, the prime suspect in the series of killings in Akinyele Local Government Area of Oyo State, has said a herbalist he worked with before they were both arrested pressurized him to escape from custody.
The 19-year-old was initially apprehended and paraded alongside two others, including the herbalist at the Commands Headquarters, Eleyele in Ibadan on July 17 and charged to court.
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He was later remanded in police custody where he was said to have escaped on August 11.
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Following his re-arrest on Sunday August 23, Shodipe speaking while being paraded by the Commissioner of Police in the state, Nwachukwu Enwonwu, in Ibadan said he was pressured to escape.
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The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that 32 other suspects were also paraded for various offences ranging from robbery, murder, burglary and kidnapping to rape and defilement.
Shodipe, who spoke in Yoruba, said that the 50-year-old herbalist initially arrested alongside him had threatened him in custody, warning of dire consequences if he did not escape to continue the ritual killings.
He said the herbalist had also explained what he would do for him after escaping from custody.
The suspect expressed;
Baba (herbalist) had been telling Officer Funsho to open the gate to allow us to take our bath but the officer did not answer him. Baba later told the officer that he needed to drink gin as an herbalist to prevent spirits from draining his blood but the officer still did not answer him.
Baba had been blaming me for telling the police and the public that he was the one that sent me to kill and that I would have been released from the custody if I had been untruthful.
Shodipe noted;
Baba also told me that something terrible might happen to him if he stayed too long in police custody because of the sacrifices he had not been performing since his arrest.
So, when the police later allowed me to go and bath in the evening at about 7.pm, I used the opportunity to escape and went to Akinyele to kill another woman. I inflicted machete cut on her head.
Two days after his escape from police custody on August 11, 2020, the suspect reportedly killed one Mrs Funmilayo Oladeji at her home.
He added;
Baba sends me out and tells me to kill by reciting his name, Idris Adedokun Yunusa Ajani, in incantations. So, I killed the woman to ensure Baba’s safety.
The suspect further said that he went to Bodija where he was re-arrested to fend for himself by using a face cap to hide his identity.
The commissioner of police said Shodipe, who was in police custody due to the congestion at the Nigeria Correctional Service facility in the state, would now be taken to the correctional facility.
Enwonwu appealed to the media to be objective in their reportage and always verify their information from the police before publication.
He said it was wrong for the public to judge the police by what they read on the social media and the attitude of one officer.
The police officer involved in Shodipe’s case is paying dearly for it and he is still in police custody facing disciplinary action which has been completed at the level of the command and forwarded to Abuja.
