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Oyo: Re-arrest fleeing suspected killer, monarch, lawmaker tell police

Traditional ruler of Akinyele in the Akinyele Local Government Area of Ibadan, Oyo State, Oba James Odediran, yesterday raised the alarm over the reported escape of a serial killer from police custody.

 

The suspected serial killer, Sunday Shodipe (19), was arrested and paraded by the police for allegedly killing about five people for rituals in Akinyele area.

 

After his arraignment, the court remanded Shodipe in police custody. But at the weekend, the state Police Commissioner, Joe Nwachukwu Enwonwu, announced that the accused had “escaped from lawful custody”.

 

The Chairman, Oyo State House of Assembly Committee on Women Affairs and Social inclusion, Hon. Wumi Oladeji, has appealed to the Inspector General of Police (IG), Muhammad Adamu, to ensure the suspected killer is rearrested.

 

However, Oba Odediran expressed worries that his subjects were no longer safe because of the escape of the suspected killer. This came on the heels of the murder of another woman in the same community a few days ago, after Shodipe had escaped from the police custody.

 

The accused had, during his parade on July  17, 2020, confessed to the killings of five persons among them Barakat Bello, Azeezat Shomuyiwa and a five-year-old boy identified as Mujeeb. The state Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), Mr. Olugbenga Fadeyi, had said in a statement that the accused escaped after he had been charged to court.

 

But the monarch wondered how Shodipe could escape from the hands of the police despite being taken around with his legs in chains. Odediran said there was need for a thorough investigation by the police to detect the officers, who probably aided Shodipe’s escape.

 

According to him, with the killer set loose, no one is safe in the local government area any longer. “He was arrested and confessed to killing about eight persons in Akinyele. When another killing was recorded, he was seen around just before the killing. How did someone in the custody of the police escape?

 

That points to something fishy. Immediately the suspect escaped, the first thing we expected was for the police to declare the suspect wanted. “He was being taken  around with his legs chained.

 

We are, therefore, surprised to hear that he escaped. No one is safe in Nigeria if a suspect can escape from police custody. The killer is not an indigene of Akinyele; he comes in here to do the dastardly acts. He said he and his parents used to live in Moniya. We enjoin our police to be more serious with their duties.

 

They have some betrayers among them, and they should fish them out,” the monarch pleaded. Meanwhile, the lawmaker, Oladeji, said the IG to put the state Commissioner of Police, Enwonwu, on his toes and ensure thorough investigation into the circumstances surrounding the suspicious escape of Shodipe. She said this during a briefing with journalists yesterday.

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