Since the arrest of both suspects, an
investigation conducted by law enforcement agents to establish the circumstances
surrounding the disappearance of Olokodana has led to the arrest of about seven
people, including some commercial motorcyclists in the area.
CRIME DIGEST learnt that the
motorcyclists, believed to have supplied the means of transportation used during
the operation that led to the killing of Olokodana, made useful statements to
the police.
They riders that they were forced at gunpoint to
cooperate with the alleged cultists behind the murder and could not refuse for
fear of losing their lives. Their statements paved the way for the
investigation.
Perhaps unsettled by the heat generated during
the investigation, some of the cultists had contacted the father of the deceased
and told him via the telephone not bother to search for his son because they had
given him a ‘befitting’ burial.
With this, the university authorities and the
police collaborated and intensified efforts to find the body of the missing boy.
Their search eventually yielded some results, as they stumbled on two graves,
which were separated by a distance of about 200 metres.
Mr. Olokodana, the father of the deceased, a team
of policemen, representatives of TASUED, and this reporter were at the graveyard
recently.
The graveyard was discovered at Imaweje in
Ijebu-Ode. Judging from the structure of the houses in the community, which is
not far from TASUED, it was easy to conclude that they served as hostels for
students of the institution.
Most of buildings in the vicinity of the mystery
graveyard were obviously vacant and overgrown with weeds. Later, it was gathered
that the fear of cult members had compelled the erstwhile occupants of the
houses to desert them.
The first shallow grave was discovered behind one
of the hostels. But sources said the landlord of that particular hostel, had to
leave when the boys involved started causing trouble for him. Beside the hostel
lies the ruins of what used to be a makeshift church.
The source said, “The residents of Imaweje are so
scared that they would rather leave the area than report the activities of these
boys to the police.”
About 20 metres from the deserted hostel, what
looked like human bones, bleached white by sunlight, poked out of a heap of
sharp sand.
When the sand was removed and the bones
excavated, the father of the deceased immediately recognised his son through the
clothes he wore. “This is my son. He was fond of wearing this particular
trousers. He was a tall boy,” Mr. Olokodana said repeatedly.
It was obvious that the body was simply dumped on
the surface and the fresh sharp sand that was used to cover up the corpse was an
after-thought.
When the sand was removed, it was obvious that
the body had decomposed. What remained of the deceased was a skeleton. The
deceased was obviously a tall person. CRIME DIGEST observed that his
ankles were missing. Apparently, his assailants had cut them off because the
space could not contain his corpse.
The skull bore tell-tale evidence of a deep gash.
From the look of it, one of the policemen noted, it was likely he was hit on the
head with the butt of a gun. The deceased must have been bound with electric
cable, which was also recovered from the shallow grave, and buried without a
shirt on his body.
Also found inside the grave were two additional
human bones and a spent bullet shell. The second shallow grave contained two
full-length skeletons. There was a fractured skull among other human bone parts
scattered around the grave. One had to be careful not to step on a human bone.
But the three bodies found in this grave could not be identified by the
visitors.
Mr. Olokodana, who is a medical practitioner,
told CRIME DIGEST that the death of his son was a great loss to his
family. He said his wife had accepted what happened in good faith.
Waving aside allegations that his son was
involved in cult-related activities, Mr. Olokodana described him as an
easy-going person who shunned violence in any form.
He said, “Nurudeen was tall and light
complexioned. He was easy-going and did not like trouble. My son was not a
cultist. His disappearance was not an easy one on us. His death is even more
painful to deal with, but his mother and I are coping with it.
“We see it as God’s doing. The police are
investigating and we have faith in them that justice would prevail. We’re
praying that justice would prevail so my son’s death would not be in vain.”
The Ogun State Police Public Relations Officer,
Muyiwa Adejobi, told CRIME DIGEST that as soon as it received
information from the university authorities, the police had swung into action.
He said, “We got information from the school that some boys buried their victims
at Imaweje. Immediately we swung into action and recovered four bodies. One was
identified, while the remaining three were not.
“Seven boys were arrested during the National
Union of Road Transport Worker’s crisis. Out of the seven, two youths, namely
(Adedoyin) Adegboyega and (Babatunde) Osho, were involved in the grave issue.
They have all been charged to court and they are being remanded.”
He said the Ogun State Commissioner of Police and
the Inspector-General of Police had granted him permission to move round the
educational institutions in the state and address the students on the need to
avoid violence.
He said it would be a good opportunity to
strengthen their relationship with the school and the community so as to foster
an enabling environment for community policing.
Source: CRIME DIGEST, punchng.com
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