Police arrest suspected killers of Ekiti Assembly lawmaker, parade 29 other criminal suspects

Police arrest suspected killers of Ekiti Assembly lawmaker, parade 29 other criminal suspects

The Police Command in Ekiti State said on Tuesday that it had arrested a six-man robbery gang that allegedly killed Michael Adedeji, a member of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the state House of Assembly.

News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Adedeji, who until his murder was representing Ekiti Southwest Constituency (II), was shot in the head by the hoodlums on Aug. 10, 2018.

The suspected bandits, who police said, had already made confessional statements were paraded by the new Commissioner of Police (CP), Mr. Asuquo Amba, in Ado Ekiti.

The suspects, according to the CP, also allegedly killed one Kayode Omowaye when they raided OJAS Pleasure Hotels in Oye Ekiti on Aug. 10, 2018.

Parading the suspects, the CP gave names of those arrested in connection with the gruesome murder of Adedeji as Dele Obamoyegun, Idowu Sunday, Adeniyi Wumi, Leye Ojo, Akindanhunsi Damilola and Olaosebikan Babatunde.

NAN reports that Exhibits recovered from them include Cut-to-size barrel guns, 17 live cartridges, 75 handsets, seven laptops, cash sum of N147,000, four stolen vehicles, one of them belonging to the late Omowaye.

The CP said the suspects were arrested by men and officers of Federal Special Anti-Robbery Squad (FSARS) during a stop and search operation along Ado-Iworoko road.

When interviewed by newsmen, the gang leader, Obamoyegun confessed to the crime, saying: “We shot him (Adedeji) after robbing him. He did not struggle with us but one of us shot him. I have to confess; we didn’t know he was a lawmaker.”

The CP said that the gang also invaded Afe Babalola University junior staff quarters and snatched a car belonging to one Mrs Bosede Ojo.

He said that most disturbing was that Dele’s mother, Bola Obamoyegun was the one accepting and concealing stolen items for the gang led by his son.

“Dele’s mother was the one concealing stolen items for them. As we speak, two of her children had earlier been convicted for robbery and this to us was a failure of motherhood.

“Our parents must learn how to make their children responsible.”

Amba hinted that the Command was synergizing with the army and other sister security agencies in the state to ensure that all the border towns were safe for the citizens.

“We held a meeting with hunters, members of vigilante groups and Odua Peoples Congress (OPC) on intelligence gathering and information flow on how to curb kidnappers in Ekiti.”

Amba said that the new security architecture in form of effective 24-hour patrol would soon be put in place to make Ekiti unsafe for criminals.

“We are working with the Commissioners of Police in Osun, Kogi, Ondo, Kwara and other border states so that our people can live in peace.

“Very soon, we are going to invade some of the forests in the state together with other security agencies to flush out those who have been kidnapping our people,”.