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A pall of disquiet appeared to be assailing the Ibara Divisional Police Headquarters of the Ogun State Police Command following the alleged escape from police custody, of main suspect in the murder of a couple, Mrs Bukola and Kehinde Fatinoye, at the couple’s Government Reservation Area(GRA) Ibara Abeokuta residence on New Year Day.
Our reporter learnt that the suspect identified as Lekan who was earlier arrested in connection with the arson and murder against the Fatinoyes, managed to escape from the police custody shortly after he was apprehended.
The suspect was said to have been identified as one of the faces of the suspected killers of the Fatinoyes, who came to attack the couple, killed the pair and set them and the house ablaze after they had also abducted the couple’s son, Oreoluwa Fatinoye and a maid.
It was learnt that Lekan who was kept in Ibara Divisional Police Headquarters custody on Tuesday last week suddenly started acting strangely and complained of being unwell in the course of investigation
According to sources, the suspect was then taken to a clinic for treatment when it seemed his health condition took a frightening dimension.
He was said to have fainted but after he was revived, he escaped from his unsuspecting handlers under the guise of going to pee.
It was further learnt that the ugly incident is unsettling the state police Command high command and the “embarrassing” development forced the police to quietly declare Lekan wanted and launched a manhunt for him.
It was learnt that the Divisional Police Officer for Ibara Police Division has been moved out of the division while officers on whose watch the suspect escaped are also undergoing interrogation.
Lekan was the driver of Mrs Bukola Fatinoye who until her gruesome killing, was a senior staff of the Federal University of Agriculture, FUNAAB, Abeokuta while her husband, Kehinde was a staff of Central Bank of Nigeria.
Meanwhile, FUNAAB authority on Sunday said Lekan, the driver of the murdered couple’s is not a staff of the university.
Speaking through Kola Adepoju, Head, Directorate of Public Relations, FUNAAB, it said the “late couple on their own volition privately engaged the Driver without any recourse or connection whatsoever with the University.”
A statement distancing the university from the suspect reads, “The attention of the Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta (FUNAAB) has been drawn to a Public Notice (attached herewith) which declared one Lekan, who purportedly is the Driver of the gruesomely murdered couple, Mr.and Mrs.Kehinde and Bukunola Fatinoye wanted.
“In the publication that is in circulation, especially on social media, the suspect (Driver) is portrayed as a staff of FUNAAB, who is working in the same office with her murdered boss, Mrs.Fatinoye, a bonafide staff of the University.
“Suffice to debunk the information and clarify that the Driver is neither a bonafide nor a casual staff of FUNAAB.
“It is for the purpose of putting the record straight in public glare and domain that this refutal has become important and necessary.
“Our investigation has shown that the late couple on their own volition privately engaged the Driver without any recourse or connection whatsoever with the University.
“Therefore, we are using this medium to call on the general public to please disregard this malicious and discrediting information, and we equally urge the circulators to immediately correct the falsehood, while others should desist from spreading the tissue of lies henceforth.
“While the efforts of members of the Public in assisting the Police to fish out the perpetrators of the heinous crime is noted, however, it should not be to the detriment of the good image of the University.
“We wish to express our implicit confidence in the ability of the Nigeria Police Force(NPF) to track down the murderers and bring them to justice.
“We pray God to give the couple’s relations, fellow staff of FUNAAB and CBN respectively, and the Public in general the fortitude to bear the irreparable loss,” Adepoju stated in a release.
Our reporter contacted Superintendent of Police; Abimbola Oyeyemi, who is the spokesman of the Ogun State Police Command, for his reaction in respect of the matter.
Oyeyemi neither denied nor confirmed the alleged escape of prime suspect Lekan but said the police would address the press on the matter at the appropriate time.
“Well, we will brief the press at our appropriate time. We are still on our investigation. And when we reached the level we want in our investigation, we will brief the press,” Oyeyemi said
