Officers from the Ogun State police command have arrested three suspects in connection with the murder of former CBN staff, Kehinde Fatinoye, his wife Bukola and their only son, Oreoluwa Fatinoye, at their residence in the Ibara area of Abeokuta, Ogun State, Nigeria on December 31, 2022.
Lekan Adekanbi, the prime suspect and driver to the wife of the late Kehinde, said he organised his fellow cultists, Ahmed Odetola a.k.a Akamo; and Waheed Adeniyi, aka Koffi, to rob the family forcing them to transfer N1,102,000, because they refused to grant his request for a loan and salary increment.
Adekanbi stated this on Friday while being paraded alongside four others — two cult members, his mother and fiancée.
The suspect said: “First, we are all sinners; may God forgive us all. To be truthful, I had no intention of killing my boss or anyone as Akamo said.
“What happened will serve as a lesson to all rich men that show wickedness to the poor.
“I was employed as a driver in September 2018 while they were still living at Quarry. After six months of working as their driver, I was asked to do their household chores, including sweeping. My salary was N25,000.
“I adhered to it without complaining. In 2020, I planned to request a loan. I eventually made the request on January 16 on our way back from a party in Lagos. I asked Mr Fatinoye to give me advance payment so that I could invest it and he promised to grant it, but it was not granted.
“In 2021, I made the same request from the wife, Mrs Bukola Fatinoye. She also promised to speak to her husband about it. But that was all about it.
“I made another effort on the request when he celebrated his birthday on June 30. I went to him, prayed for him and again asked him for the loan. He again promised to grant it.
“Also on July 5, 2022, I told his brother who introduced us, Mr Seyi Fatinoye, about my request and he promised to speak to his brother on my behalf. I waited till September and nothing came. So, I went to Mr Seyi at his house in Obada to help me with another job either in Lagos or even Abeokuta or federal. But he asked me to be patient that he would speak to his brother.”
A statement released by the spokesperson of the state police command, SP Abimbola Oyeyemi, said: “The suspects, Lekan Adekanbi a.k.a Koroba, Ahmed Odetola a.k.a Akamo and Waheed Adeniji a.k.a Koffi, were all arrested following painstaking intelligence-based investigation embarked upon by men of the Command.
“Upon the report of the dastardly act, the Commissioner of Police directed the Homicide section of the State criminal investigation Department to take over the case and ensure that the culprits were brought to justice.
In the course of investigation, one Lekan Adekanbi, a driver to the deceased family, was arrested based on circumstantial evidence, while investigation continues.
The arrested suspect Lekan Adekanbi suddenly collapsed in the cell on the 2nd of January 2023, and he was rushed to the hospital for medical care. But 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 Commissioner of Police 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 their efforts which yielded positive results, when Lekan Adekanbi was apprehended in his hideout somewhere in Abeokuta on the 21st of January 2023.
On interrogation, Lekan 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 come and 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 loan to buy motorcycle, but they didn’t oblige him. I planned the attack on my boss because they refused to increase my salary and give me loan to buy motorcycle.
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 Asatian dog in the house did not attack them, he stated that the dog is very familiar with him being the person who always feed 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 (One million one hundred and two thousand) was transferred at gunpoint.
Since Lekan realized 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 at Felix Olorunyomi when the rope on his hand loosed 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.”
