Lekan Adekanbi, the suspected mastermind of the dastardly killings of the Fatinoye couple, has confessed that he killed them and their only son for failing to increase his salary.
He stated this in his confessional statement, following his re-arrest, along with his two accomplices by operatives of the Ogun State Police Command.
Kehinde and Bukola Fatinoye and their only son, Oreoluwa Fatinoye, gruesomely murdered on the New Year Eve celebration immediately they returned from the Cross-over service, last January.
Their killers also set their corpses ablaze, even as their son was drowned in a river, to cover their tracks.
Adekanbi (a.k.a. Koroba), who was the driver of the deceased, was arrested on Thursday, alongside Ahmed Odetola (a.k.a Akamo) and Waheed Adeniji (a.k.a Koffi).
The Ogun State Police image-maker, SP Abimbola Oyeyemi, stated this in a release,
AZ:5310/OGS/PRO/VOL.7/195. 10/02/2023.
He added that the suspect were arrested on Thursday, based on investigation embarked upon by the police, following the murder of the Fatinoyes.
Lekan Adekanbi had earlier been arrested but escaped from the police custody shortly the killings of the couple and the mysterious drowning of their only son, Oreoluwa, in a river.
In his confessionals, as stated in the release, Adekanbi, who was the driver of the late Kehinde Fatinoye, said he killed the husband and wife for failing to increase his salary.
He added that he killed the late staff of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) also for failing to support him financially to buy an okada.
“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 21 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 late 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.
“He stated further that on that fateful day, himself and his two accomplices waited for the couple to come back from the crossover service since he has access to the house and they pounced on them immediately they entered the house.
“When asked why the Alsatian 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 was transferred at gunpoint.
“Since Lekan realised that his identity has been known through his bank account, he decided with others to terminate the life of the couple.
“Consequent upon this, Waheed Adeniyi (a.k.a Koffi) took a knife from their kitchen and slaughtered the husband, Kehinde Fatinoye.
“Lekan Adekanbi used a 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 Fatinoye was not that lucky as his dead body was recovered the following day,” SP Oyeyemi stated.
Waheed Adeniyi (a.k.a Koffi) and Ahmed Odetola (a.k.a Akamo) were both apprehended at Ogere on Thursday, 9 February, 2023.
The three suspects who are members of the Aye Confraternity have all confessed to their various roles in the gruesome and callous murder of the family.
Meanwhile, the state Commissioner of Police, Mr Frank Mba, has ordered the suspects be charged to court as soon as possible.