Youths Protest Escape of Serial Killer from Oyo Police Custody

Some angry youths on Wednesday marched to the Police headquarters at Eleyele, Ibadan, Oyo State capital to register their grievances over the escape of a serial killer, Sunday Shodipe from police custody on Sunday.

This came as another group threatened that they would lock down the Akinyele Local Government Area of the state if the suspect was not arrested before September 1.

The suspect was arrested and paraded in connection with the murder of four women and a 10-year-old boy in the area of the state.

But, the police, in a statement signed by its Public Relations Officer, SP Gbenga Fadeyi, said the suspect had escaped when he was being led to a bathroom.

At the police headquarters, the youths displayed placards with inscriptions querying how the suspect escaped from police custody.

The Commissioner of Police, Oyo State Police Command, Nwachukwu Enwonwu, who had ordered the arrest of his men connected with the escape of the suspect calmed the aggrieved youths down and reassured them of his readiness to track down the suspect and bring him to justice. The Police Public Relations Officer, Olugbenga Fadeyi, said some students came to the command’s headquarters.

Fadeyi said, “The CP and other senior police officers attended to them and answered all their questions.” “You know students now, some of them got out of control but we were able to handle the situation professionally.

They have since gone back.” The group under the aegis of Peoples’ Awareness Initiative, PAI, announced a stay at home order for residents of Akinyele local government area on the 1st of September if the police failed to re-arrest Sunday Shodipe on or before the 31st of August.

The group in a statement said,” An organized non-partisan, grass-root awareness forum, Peoples’ Awareness Initiatives (PAI) has been forced to decry in the strongest term, the incessant killings of innocent souls and conspiracy that enveloped the leaky security situation since the inception of assassination outbreak in May 2020 within Akinyele Local Government Area (LGA).

“Definitely, the manner and sequence of the attacks; the seeming perfect coordination of all the assaults, the inability of the security agencies to curb the ceaseless brutal murder, the escape of the suspects from the police custody, immunity of arrest to some fingered VIPs; all these give much to ponder on the seeming invincibility of the syndicate and how these assailants are well connected with the security agencies.”

“The people of Akinyele LGA are breaking out in a cold sweat and could no longer condone making the community a hot ‘spot’ for ritual killers where brutal murders mostly for rituals and other circumstances will be happening almost on daily basis. It’s potentially risky to live or move around any time within Akinyele LGA. No doubt, we are totally out of our depth.”

“How does the Oyo State Government curb this disaster as soon as possible? Can we rely on these security operatives anymore? Do you want to allow these criminals (wolf in sheep’s clothing) to kill us all?

“Are we animals? How do we manage to see our next neighbors been raped and or axed to death for rituals almost on a daily basis? The fear of who is the next victim is the beginning of wisdom for all of us. Are we not doomed?

“People of Akinyele LGA are still in the heat of the moment in spite of the public outcry on the gruesome murder of: “Barakat Bello at Akinyele Town (May 31, 2020), Azeezat Somuyiwa at L-Adisa area (June 5, 2020), Grace Osiague at Idi-Ori area (June 13, 2020), Mujeeb Tirimisiyu at Tose area (June 23, 2020), Olusayo Fagbemi Aisha at Sasa area (June 24, 2020), Dolapo Bamidele and her mother Deola Bamidele who were cold-bloodedly macheted at Alaja area (June 29, 2020).

“Another woman, name unknown who was killed at Elekuru area (July 1, 2020), Omotoke Grace, at Onikoro area Moniya (July 20, 2020).

“Disgustingly, Mrs. Oladejo Funmilayo was gruesomely murdered at Onikeke village, Akinyele town on 13th of August, 2020 after the purported escape of the suspect, Mr. Sunday Sodipe and his reemergence around Onikeke area where the last brutal murder later occurred.”

“Earlier on, precisely on the 17th of July, the suspect, Mr. Sunday Sodipe and his purported master, Mr. Adedokun Yunusa (herbalist) were paraded by the police and they confessed their involvement in the serial manslaughters which was covered by the media including the social media.

“So, PAI on behalf of the good people of Akinyele LGA hereby charged the Nigerian Police whose custody Mr. Sunday Sodipe was kept to reproduce and re-parade him on or before 31st of August, 2020 (two weeks from now).

“PAI also demands explanations from the Nigerian Police to the public the circumstances that orchestrated his supposed escape and why other fingered VIPs who are allegedly backing the murder syndicate are not paraded and detained up till now.

“In the light of the failure of the Police to meet the above demand, PAI thus calls for ‘a stay at home order on Tuesday, 1st of September, 2020’ as a civil way of registering our protest over the leaky security situation in Akinyele LGA.

“So, if unfortunately, this exercise would occur in the event of failure of the security agency concerned to bring Mr. Sunday Sodipe and his other cohorts to justice, the good people of Akinyele would observe ‘a stay at home order’ on Tuesday when: “There will be no market activities within Akinyele LGAN, No transportation except for emergency situations within Akinyele LGA, no social activities within Akinyele LGA.

“Conclusively, we wish to state categorically clear at this juncture that this call is not in any way meant to invoke any security threat to the public but to charge the concerned authority and the Oyo State Government, in particular, to swing into serious action in putting the lasting solution to the ceaseless killings in our state particularly in Akinyele LGA.

“The primary responsibility of government is to provide security for all and sundry, irrespective of any consideration. Where this fails, despondency may set in, leading to a loss of confidence in the government. “It is imperative that people should not be allowed to take recourse to self-help in an attempt to secure their lives and property”, they said.