One of the prime suspects in the murder of the Managing Director of Today’s Prints Limited, Mr. Olalekan Ogunranti, has disclosed how and why the late businessman was murdered.
The Intelligence Response Team (IRT) of the Inspector General of Police (IGP) had arrested the suspect, a thirty-seven-year-old herbalist named Alhaji Asimiyu Agboola a.k.a. Iyaya, and five others in relation to the heinous crime.
The five others include Adesina Meyidan (27), Ramoni Afolabi (37), Akeem Akorede (32), Coker Samuel Osas (28) and Coker Daniel (32).
A police source said their arrest resulted from the Acting Inspector General of Police (IGP) Ibrahim Idris’ order that the IRT should take over the case and use all the technical resources available to the force to arrest the culprits.
The IGP was said to have frowned at the slow pace at which the case was being handled by the initial group that investigated it.
All the suspects admitted that they kidnapped, killed and mutilated the body of the late Ogunranti to stop him from further asking them to return the huge sums of money they duped him of.
The first suspect and Agboola’s driver, Adesina Muyideen, described himself as an indigene of Aroguma in Osogbo, saying: “I am just a driver but I am aware of all the dealings of my oga (boss). I am aware that they were defrauding the late Ogunranti because I have driven them to several places.
“I was there when he was killed. I am not his permanent driver, but because I am trustworthy, he always liked to use me for most of his dealings. He gave me N150,000 as my share.”
The second suspect, Coker Daniel, who described himself as a graduate, said he was the one that led the IRT operatives to Obokun River in Obokun Local Government Area of Osun State where the mutilated body of the late Ogunranti was recovered and deposited at LAUTECH in Oshogbo.
The third suspect, Akorede Akeem, said: “I am a musician and trado-medical practitioner for over eight years now. I am from Oshogbo, Osun State.
“I used to market my product in Ikorodu with the aid of public address system. It was in that process that I met Olalekan (Ogunranti).
“Early this year, he saw me in Ikorodu while I was advertising my product and called me. He bought a medicine for pile and paid N500. A week later, he called me and said that the medicine worked. He asked if I had a drug for diabetes. I told him I did not have such drug but I knew people who were specialists in that area.
“That made me to call Afolabi, who also sells herbal drugs especially for sexually transmitted diseases. He was the one who referred us to see Alhaji in Oshogbo.
“On an agreed date in March, we all travelled to Osogbo to see Alhaji. He gave him drugs and he paid N90,000. I got N10,000 as my share.
“Later Olalekan (Ogunranti) called me and I told him that I was in the village. He told me that the drugs that he was given was very good. He requested to see him again personally. He said he would soon visit Oshogbo and he wanted me to take him to see Alhaji.
“It was when I finally took him there that I knew the main reason why he wanted to see the Alhaji. He told him that he wanted power to make money. I knew that my interest would be protected, so I asked Alhaji to play along.
“I was given N700,000 from the first money that he gave Alhaji on March 28 this year. From it, I quickly bought a car which I used to sell my drugs.
“Weeks later, Alhaji called that the man was threatening to report us to the police. We met in a beer parlour where we all agreed that the best way out was to kill him. We also agreed that the best thing would be for us to scatter after the deed until they would stop looking for the man.
“I was in my village when policemen came and arrested me.”
The fourth suspect, Afolabi Ramoni, a Muslim cleric and trado-medical practitioner based in Oshogbo, said: “I met Akorede in Oshogbo where he came to buy drugs. I am very good at herbal drugs and I assist women who are looking for husbands. With N10,000, I can produce a powder that can be used to trap any man.
“Alhaji is a well-known herbalist in Oshogbo. He has several cars, which is a sign of a successful man. I am aware of Olalekan case because I was the one who took him to meet Alhaji. I was aware that he would be killed so that he would not report us to the police.”
The fifth suspect, Coker Samuel, a native of Auchi, Edo State resident at No. 23 Isashi, Ibeshe in Ikorodu, said he attended Ondo State University where he read Biology Education.
He said: “I graduated in 2010 and proceeded for NYSC in 2011. After my NYSC, I could not get a job, so I became a tout. In 2012, I was arrested by SARS operatives in Lagos after I participated in the kidnapping of an expatriate.
“We abducted the foreigner in Ijebu-Ode. Unfortunately, we did not succeed in collecting a ransom. The day we scheduled the ransom, policemen stormed the area and we ran away. We had no choice but to release the foreigner. Weeks later, the police traced and arrested us. My father, a pastor at the Celestial Church of Christ, secured my bail then.
“As to what led to my recent arrest, I travelled with a friend known as Biggie to Osun State. There we went for a festival in the area. During the festival period, Alhaji Agboola called us that he needed our help to silence one man that he had defrauded. He told us that the man had threatened to report him to the police.
“I know Alhaji as a successful herbalist and a cultist. We also consult him for prayers. We brainstormed on the best way to silence the late Olalekan (Ogunranti). Alhaji told us that the man was already in a hotel in the state.
“We agreed that Alhaji should tell the man that he had to bathe at a river as the final ritual process. We drove to the river and made sure that it was safe enough to kill someone without anyone seeing us. Alhaji called the late Olalekan and told him where the river was while we laid an ambush for him and Alhaji and his driver waited in the car.
“In less than 30 minutes, the man came on a bike. He removed his clothe and with the sponge and soap in his hand walked towards the river. The instruction they gave him was that while bathing, he should not look back.
“I was with a locally made pistol and I tried to shoot him but the gun did not work. While I was still trying to arrange the gun, Biggie brought out a knife and stabbed the man in the neck. He fell on the ground and Biggie brought out a cutlass and beheaded him.
He kept his head in a bag and all of us entered Alhaji’s car and drove off to a spot to cool off. Weeks later, I was arrested in Ikorodu.”
The sixth suspect, Alhaji Asimiyu Agboola, said: “I am from Oshogbo in Osun State. I am married with children and became a herbalist in 2006. It is a skill I inherited from my father who is a trado-medical practitioner, especially healing the sick. He was well known in Oshogbo, especially when it comes to curing diabetes and fibroid.
My father owns a shrine at No 8, Oloti area, Iragbiji in Osun State, which I inherited.
“Sometime in March, Afolabi and Akorede came to my office that they had a customer who needed my help. Five days later, they came with Olalekan. After listening to him, I gave him a bill of N90,000 and gave him drugs and he left.
“Normally, we will assess the customer’s financial status before giving them a bill. So I asked him to pay that amount because the people that brought him said that he was rich.
“I removed N20,000, which was the real cost of the drugs. The balance of N70,000 was shared into two. After two days, he called back so excited that he had improved. He requested to come and see me again and I said no problem.
“When he came, he was so excited and promised to bring more customers. After the discussion, he said that he wanted something that would make him rich. I told the people who brought him and they suggested that this must be a good person to extort money from and that I had to play along.
“I told them that I could do it and that there were two categories of money ritual. The first is to get money and put it in a bag. After some important rituals, the money will multiply. The second will be to construct a big box and keep it in a room. After several days of prayer, he will be picking money from the box without end.
“He chose to do that of a bag because he said he did not have anywhere to hide a box. Two weeks later, he called that he had gathered N2.5 million. I took the money and put ordinary paper and other stuffs in the bag and tied it up. I warned him not to open the bag until he was instructed to do so.
“I told him to return in four days time with the bag. I told him that he would bath in a river which could be very close to where he was living. I gave him options and he chose Ijebu area. I also told him to come with N500,000 to buy more items for the rituals.
“He brought the money and told me that he could not afford to give me any more money for any rituals as he had run out of cash. I told him not to worry, that he would soon be rich and that what was left to pay was not much.
“I told him to go back to Lagos, that as soon as I got a signal from the gods, he would open the bag. After 10 days, he called back, threatening to involve government. He said that he would arrest us.
“I knew it was time to shut him up, so I called the others (Akorede and Afolabi ) and we agreed to set him up. I told him to come with N150,000 and a goat for the final sacrifice, and that as soon as we were through, he could use the money.
“I alerted some cultists known as Coker and Biggie. I knew them when they were in school because I have done some incantations for them to become powerful. They suggested that he should be lured to a remote area where they would ambush and kill him. I gave them N120,000 to do the job.
Describing the suspects’ arrest as a glaring evidence of the proactive nature of the Nigeria Police Force in the new dispensation, the IGP assured Nigerians that the Nigerian Police will always ensure the security of lives and property.
The Force Public Relations Officer (FPRO), Force Headquarters, Don Awunah, a Deputy Commissioner of Police, also confirmed their arrests.
Explaining how the suspects were arrested, the police said “through advanced intelligence gathering, five suspects who actively participated in the kidnap and killing of Olalekan were picked up in their various hideouts and they led the police to a bush near a river where his headless body was found.
“It was also discovered that his manhood was cut off. Investigation is still on to fish out the remaining suspects.”
[The Nation]
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