MICHAEL AKINOLA
A man, simply identified as Ogunfadeke, has landed in serious trouble in Ogun State after allegedly locked up his two children inside the room for three months for stealing, starved them of food till they died and he secretly buried their corpses in a shallow grave.
P.M.EXPRESS reports that the father of three, Ogunfeke has been arrested by operatives from the Ogun State Amotekun Corps in Ibiade, Ogun Waterside Local Government Area of the State and detained over the alleged murder of the victims.
The arrest followed a report by the suspect’s estranged wife, Busola Otusegun, who alleged that the man killed two of their children and buried them in an undisclosed location.
This was disclosed by the Ogun State Amotekun Commander, David Akinremi, who stated tha the complainant narrated that her former husband insisted on having custody of the three children when their marriage broke up a few years ago.
She said they had agreed that the children, aged 18, 17 and 16, would live with their father. She then relocated to Warri, Delta State, and got married to another man but was in constant touch with the suspect concerning the welfare of the three children and was always told that all was well with them.
The Commander, Akinremi, stated that the woman said she did not have direct access to any of her three children till on 30th March, 2023. One of the three children reportedly came across his aunt in Ibiade, where he lives with his father and recounted their experience with the man; which he said led to the death of his two elder siblings – Yusuf Ogunfadeke (‘M’ 18 years) and Dasola Ogunfadeke (‘F’ 17 years).
It was learnt that the two teenagers died between April and June, 2022 in Ijebu-Ode, where they were residing with their father at the time.
The boy had disclosed that their father chained and locked them in a solitary confinement, without food and water for over three months, which led to the death of the two siblings but he miraculously survived the ordeal.
The man, according to the Amotekun Commander, admitted during interrogation that he confined the children for months but he denied not feeding them and being responsible for their death.
The suspect had stated that he locked up the children due to their “involvement in stealing, hence the need to ensure they were prevented from such criminal action”.
He further claimed that the two deceased children were taken to the hospital for treatment at different times when they fell ill but they died in the process.
“What is however, curious about his defence is that the hospital where he claimed the two children died in Ijebu Ode could neither be located nor where he allegedly buried them behind a rented apartment he lived in Ijebu-Ode before relocating to his present abode in Ibiade with the third child for possible exhumation be traced.”
“The fact that he refused to make the incidents known to any member of the family also gives course for concern. More so, when the suspect is a herbalist, it further fueled the suspicion of having killed the deceased for possible rituals” Akinremi submitted.
He added that the case would be transferred to the State CIID for further investigation with a view to establishing further facts that will facilitate his prosecution.