Men of the Ondo State Police Command have arrested a 39-year-old fruit trader, Dolapo Babalola, for allegedly killing his 34-year-old childhood friend, Evangelist Opeyemi Oyelakin, who stole his motorcycle and sold it off.
The suspect, who claimed to be a serial Okada snatcher, said the killing of his friend was carried out with one Sikiru Mutiu, who is now at large, following his arrest after selling off the motorcycle for the sum of N130,000 in Ibadan.
According to him, no fewer than 15 motorcycles had been snatched by him and his friends between 2021 and 2024 when he ventured into motorcycle snatching, saying they operated within Ondo, Ekiti, and Osun States.
Speaking on how his childhood friend was killed, he explained that he lured the deceased to Oke Igbo in the Ile Oluji local government area of the state from Ondo town after asking him to assist him to his farm in the town.
He disclosed that the deceased was hit with a stick and a big stone, killing him instantly. He dumped his remains in a shallow grave and covered him with leaves.
He said, “It’s devil’s handiwork; I can’t explain because this deceased was my close friend. Truly, his bike is not the first I will snatch, but I have never killed anyone before, maybe because I did not know them.
“At least I have snatched about 15 bikes, but I have never killed before. This will be the first; my buyer is in Ibadan, and we sold the bike at the rate of N130,000, and we share the money equally because we are two in the business.
“When we intended to collect the bike from him, he dragged it with us, and I hit him with a stone. I know his mom and younger brother. I can’t really explain why I killed him.
“I am a trader. I sell oranges, but I don’t have a shop. I do go to villages to buy oranges. I am from Oyo State, Ibadan, precisely. But I reside in Ondo town.”
However, it was gathered that the incident was reported at the police station when the family did not know the whereabouts of the deceased, and his father reported the incident to the police.
Detectives from the state police swung into action, and the suspect was arrested after tracking the call logs of the deceased, while the suspect confessed to the crime.
Speaking at the scene of the incident where the decomposing remains of the deceased were found in a shallow, the state commissioner of police, Abayomi Oladipo, said the suspect was arrested following technical intelligence.
The Police Commissioner frowned over the attitude of farmers in the area over their failure to alert the police to the discovery of dead bodies, despite the heavy stench that engulfed the area for days.
Oladipo said, “Through technical intelligence, the suspect was arrested, and upon the interrogation, he confessed to how the rider was engaged from Ondo town to take him and one other to a farm area in Oke-Igbo, and the rider, who incidentally happens to be his friend, brought him to this area where we are.
“On getting to this point, they came down under the pretence that they wanted to inspect their farm. The other suspect, who is now at large, gripped the okada rider at the back while the arrested suspect hit him with a stone on the head and consistently used wood to batter his head.
“Thereafter, they carried the dead body into the bush and used leaves to cover him, and they left him there.
“After the interrogation, he led the operatives to this particular location where they put the remains of the deceased, and that is why we are here to remove the corpse and do the necessary procedure so that the family can give him a proper burial.
“Also, I want to say that the residents of this area, especially those who have been farming here since the 15th of March, when this incident happened to date, have kept mute, which is not supposed to be. So what we are saying is that if you see something, you must say something.
“I want to use this opportunity to alert the members of the public, most especially those who ride Okada, to be careful of the passengers that will engage their services in faraway areas and take them to isolated roads.
“At the moment, we are still investigating to apprehend all other offenders who are on the run.”
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