The Ondo State Police Command on Monday said it had arrested no fewer than seven persons in connection with the killing of a man, Tope Olorunfemi, who was lynched in Akure, the state capital.
The PUNCH reports Olorunfemi was killed in a mob attack in the Ijoka area of Akure on Easter Monday after his Toyota Camry car allegedly crushed one person to death and injured several other people.
He was thereafter lynched while his vehicle was set ablaze by some people in the area. The people said they found some fetish items in his car, raising suspicion that he was a ‘Yahoo boy’.
Parading the suspects at the police headquarters, Akure, the Police Public Relations Officer in the state, Mrs Funmilayo Odunlami, confirmed that seven persons were in their custody but four were paraded.
According to the PPRO, the suspects paraded are Samuel Olatunji, 20, Pelumi Farotimi, 42, Ismaila Durotoye, 32 and Victor Amos, 30.
Odunnlami added that an investigation into the incident was ongoing while the suspects would be charged to court for murder and arson.
She declared that the command was still on the trail of the fleeing suspects.
The PPRO said, “Last week Monday, we had a case of jungle justice in Akure in which a young man who was driving along Ijoka road had an accident and unfortunately killed one commercial motorcyclist and injured six others.
“Unfortunately those who were around ought to have helped resolve jungle justice. Some of these people have been arrested. Seven people put together are in custody but four principal suspects are here. Jungle justice is illegal, it’s against the law.
“There is no reason why there is the police. It’s wrong for anybody to sniff life out of anyone under the guise that the person had killed someone else.
“We are not through with the arrest of suspects. Some suspects are still at large. After investigation, all suspects involved will be charged with arson and murder.”
She also disclosed that the victim had been buried on Monday.
One of the suspects, Victor Amos, who spoke during the parade insisted that some fetish items were found in the deceased’s car, admitting that he was involved in the beating of the deceased.
He said, “On getting to the scene of the incident, the deceased had been beaten to a pulp, and he had been soaked in his own blood. The okada rider beat him mercilessly. I didn’t even know those that stoned him.
On getting to the scene, I was moved by the lifeless bodies of those that he crushed and that made me pick up a stone and hit him on the head. I didn’t even know that he was the younger brother of my friend.
“When I gave him some punches, he held onto my leg and in order to release myself from his grip before he could drag me into the gutter, I tried to choke him on his neck. It is true that I saw a small coffin and tortoise inside the car before it was burnt. But I was no longer there when the car was set ablaze. I was not arrested by the police.
“I went to report myself at Ala police station when my picture was being circulated as part of those who participated in the beating. I told the police that I beat and stoned him but I did not kill him.”
(Punch)
