Nigeria: A harvest of ritual deaths

Recently, I posted on this site a large number of ritual murder cases in Nigeria. For this reason I wished to draw the readers’s attention to other African countries where similar crimes are being committed. However, these days Nigeria is making headlines which one cannot ignore. The number of ritual murders in Africa’s most populated country can no longer be counted – if that ever was the case. In my research and reporting on ‘money rituals’ in Nigeria – as ritualistic killings are commonly called in this West African country – I already experienced that I could hardly cope with the fast rising number of reported ritualistic murders committed by Yahoo boys, Yahoo Plus boys and whatever the names are that are given to these criminals who have no respect for a human life.

The below article by Hakim Jamiu is a cry to end these gruesome practices. She offers a grim insight in the recent spate in ritual murder cases in Nigeria, a devastating picture, and sketches a possible explanation for these practices which are based on superstition and fed by greed. I recognize a number of cases she mentions, some are notorious cases, whereas I am always unpleasantly surprised to learn about more ritual murder cases hitherto unknown. She does not have to dig deep to unveil ritual murder cases in nine states: Akwa Ibom, Ekiti, Kwara, Lagos, Plateau, Rivers, Ogun, Ondo, Osun. I can without much effort add nine more states. Also see my previous posts on Nigeria (click on the category African countries in the top bar and select Nigeria in the drop down menu thus appearing).

I have repeatedly mentioned on this site that Nigeria ranks Number One in ritual murder cases in Africa. The following article confirms this sad conclusion.
(FVDK)

Nigeria: a harvest of ritual deaths

Published: March 17, 2022
By: Hakim Jamiu – The Cable, Nigeria

Nigeria is fast gaining notoriety as a country of ritualists with stories of ritual killings daily reported in the traditional and social media. The latest of this cannibalistic atrocity is the gruesome murder of 22-year-old Oluwabamise Ayankole who was abducted after boarding a Lagos state government-owned Bus Rapid Transport (BRT) bus and was later murdered and had parts of her body removed which confirmed the suspicion that she may have been killed for ritual purposes. Bamise, who was on her way home from work, was thereafter tossed out of the BRT Bus at Ebute Ero. Bamise, according to eyewitnesses, was still alive after she was tossed out of the vehicle at the Ebute Ero bridge but she gave up the ghost because she did not get help on time. Social media was awash with her last chat and video expressing fears for her safety inside the desolate BRT bus in which she and another lady and three men were the only occupants. As if she knew, her instinct warned her of the danger ahead but she was helpless. Murder in a BRT bus which is expected to be one of the safest means of transportation owned by the government of Lagos state is a sacrilege.

Bamise’s gruesome murder is only an addition to the harvest of deaths by ritualists in the last few weeks across Nigeria. While many Nigerians are yet to grapple with the shock of the gruesome beheading of Sofiat Kehinde, a 17-year-old girl in Abeokuta by four ritualists between ages 18 and 20, the murder of Bamise sent shock waves to all as anybody’s child, relative or friend could be the next victim. Late last year in Ado Ekiti, a seven-year-old girl, Demilade was sent on an errand by her mother four houses away but the little girl disappeared immediately and all efforts to find her proved abortive until her corpse was found in a pastor’s house the following day! Timothy Adegoke checked into a hotel in Ile-Ife to write his postgraduate examinations but he never came out alive as he was murdered overnight and buried some metres away from the hotel. The proprietor of the hotel is currently standing trial!

In Ogun state, a woman connived with her husband to kill her visiting friend and dismembered her. The remains of the victim were later found in a bucket in the couple’s room. A ritual killer, Timothy Odeniyi who was arrested by Amotekun Corps in Ondo state confessed that he used to harvest human parts at burial grounds which he sells to his clients. In Jos, 20-year-old Moses Oko killed Jennifer, a student of the University of Jos and removed some of her body parts. In Ikorodu, Lagos state, a suspected internet fraudster (Yahoo+), 32-year-old Afeez Olalore killed his younger brother for ritual purposes. In Uyo, Akwa Ibom state, Uduak Akpan, a serial ritual killer killed 20-year-old Iniobong Umoren, a job seeker and buried her in a shallow grave. In Ilorin, Kwara state, a next-door neighbour allegedly murdered a groom-to-be for ritual purposes.

In 2019, Nigerians were alarmed about the arrest of one of Nigeria’s notorious ritual killers called Gracious David West in Port Harcourt who confessed to having killed at least 15 women for ritual purposes. In November 2019, one-year-old boy Eniola Kolawole was declared missing at Sotitobire Miracle Centre, Akure, Ondo state and has not been found till today. Irate youths set the church ablaze but the pastor who had been on trial has since been discharged and acquitted. One Shakirat was murdered in Iwo, Osun state and her body was dumped behind her mother’s shop with some of her parts missing!

It is an understatement to say that Satan has taken over our affairs completely as cases of ritual killings keep rising by the day! The question now is, are rituals for money-making real? Perhaps this is why the Nigerian-American media scholar, newspaper columnist and activist, Farooq Kperogi while bemoaning the unending spate of ritual murders in Nigeria argued, “the only solution lies in the liberation of Nigerians from stupid, backward, unproductive and murderous superstitions. The witch doctors who tell people to bring the body parts of murdered people to make them rich are often one of the most wretched people you can find on earth. If money rituals were real, they would be wealthy and won’t let anybody in on the secret”. Not many people agree with the view of Kperogi because if money-making rituals do not exist, why is ritual killing on the increase across the country? There have been many unverifiable variants and anecdotes concerning how money rituals work especially among yahoo boys which is called Yahoo plus. There is a type whereby ebora (a spirit) will bring the money to the yahoo boy after necessary sacrifices with human parts have been done. There is another type that will make the victim, usually, a foreigner obey whatever the yahoo boy says including sending millions of dollars on request. There is yet another type that involves using the pant of a woman. The pant, as they say, will fetch the ritualist a lot of money. It is not only yahoo boys that are into the ritual killing but they may have influenced others who are not into internet fraudsters to kill for rituals because of the belief that it is working for them. Some yahoo boys even go to the extent of eating human faeces, having spiritual baths in broad daylight at a public place, appearing only in pants in broad daylight to withdraw money from ATMs and so many bizarre and silly things!

The question remains, how much is ritual killing giving those involved in it that is worth the desperation of taking the life of a fellow human being? Definitely, it cannot give billions because many of the Yahoo plus boys even get broke after about three to six months while some go mad! So what’s the need for ritual killing? Apart from Yahoo boys, there are reports of a well-organised clientele of ritual killers which means that not all who are involved in ritual killing directly use the human parts but they are agents of some powerful personalities who buy the parts from them. There are reports that human parts markets exist in some areas of Lagos. It is also ridiculous that human life has been so reduced to nothingness that a human head is sold for as low as N20,000. Research also shows that many people who seek power and wealth like politicians and businessmen also use human parts for charms for good fortune and for fortification against real and perceived enemies! I wish to remind this group of politicians and businessmen that the greatest fortification and blessings come from God who is the custodian of power and fortune.

The underlying factor responsible for the present malaise is desperation on the part of our young ones who are eager to get rich quick. There is unprecedented moral bankruptcy and total collapse of family values of hard work, honesty and integrity. We should go beyond lamentations and take drastic actions. We must dig into the root cause of this barbaric act and approach it from there. What we are seeing are symptoms rather than cause. Our society has been sold to the dogs and many souls sold to the devil, the result is what is confronting us. A 17-year-old wanting to ride the latest automobile sold for millions of naira, not through any work but by any means. Society celebrating any rich person not minding the source of his or her wealth is responsible for the present madness. Images of boys displaying wealth on social media and messages that all that matter is money and the message is sinking fast and spreading like wildfire!

In one of the videos that circulated on the social media, a boy was asked if he could use her mother for rituals, he didn’t hesitate before saying yes as long as he will be rich! That’s what our society has turned to! We are breeding monsters and heartless beings who would not mind going to any length just to be rich! A child who would not blink an eyelid before killing his own mother for rituals would kill anybody without thinking about it! It is such a pity! It is common these days to find human head in a cellophane bag carried by a teenager sitting next to you in a bus! Human parts have become very common like animal parts ! It is such a shame that we have become a cannibalistic society! It is now normal to suspect the man or woman sitting next to you in a public place as a ritualist! It is that bad!

Beyond lamentations that have not helped, we must all resolve to end this monster that is threatening to consume all of us. Nobody is immune from ritual death. Bamise and other victims of ritual killings must not die in vain. Now that the driver of the BRT bus and his cohorts have been apprehended, their trial must be swift and transparent. Cameras must be installed in all BRT buses that would be monitored at a base station and on no account must this be switched off by any BRT driver.

The national and state houses of assembly should begin to work on laws to empower special courts to try ritual murder cases with stiffer penalties. Everybody must be vigilant and we must de-emphasise material wealth in our society while the source of wealth of emergency millionaires and new kids on the block must be questioned and such characters ostracized by the rest of the society as it was the practice on the days of yore when there was sanity.

We must say no to ritual killings! We are neither animals nor vampires! Even animals don’t kill themselves senselessly as we are witnessing presently!

Source: A harvest of ritual deaths

Nigeria: Ondo State – Suspect with fresh human head dies in police custody

On December 24 last I posted an article reporting the arrest of a 55-year old herbalist, Tunde Olayiwola, in Ondo State. A few days later he was dead. The suspected ritualist died in police custody. 

An Ondo State Police public relation officer confirmed the death of Tunde Olayiwola, but did not give details of what led to his death.

Is this another example of jungle justice? Further investigation will have to learn what caused Olayiwola’s death but if there’s foul play the rule of law demands that those who are responsible for his unnatural death must account for their deeds. It’s a gross violation of a suspect’s legal and human rights to be maltreated or even killed while in police custody.

But will we ever hear the truth about what happened to Tunde Olayiwola?
(webmaster FVDK). 

Suspect with fresh human head dies in police custody

Published: December 26, 2021
By: Babatope Okeowo, Akure – The New Telegraph 

A suspected ritualist, Tunde Olayiwola who was arrested by the Ondo State Police Command for unlawful possession of fresh human head has died in their custody, it was learnt yesterday.

Olayiwola, who was paraded alongside eight others suspects arrested for various criminal offences ranging from murder, kidnapping and cultism last week Thursday, died in the police clinic in Akure, the state capital.

Olayiwola, who claimed to be an herbalist of 53 years experience, said he bought the fresh human head from one of his customers for N60, 000 in order to use it for money making ritual.

He confessed that the head found in his possession was to be used to ensure he had a better life, saying he did not have any regrets for using a human head for ritual purposes.

He said if it was his son that was killed for money making ritual, he said that was his end and would do nothing about it.

He refused to give the name of his accomplices saying he wanted to be rich just as his counterparts.

The Commissioner of Police, Mr Oyeyemi Oyediran, who paraded the suspect, said the Police received information that a self acclaimed cleric named Alfa Tunde Olayiwola, a suspected ritualist, was about to receive a consignment suspected to be a human head.

Oyediran said the Police immediately swung into action and the cleric was apprehended at Ajagbale Area of Oka, Ondo town.
He added that a fresh human head was found in his custody.

But on Sunday, a police source, who did not want his name in print, said the cleric, who was apprehended at Oka, Ondo West Local Government, slumped at Special Anti-cultist Section of the state police command, located along FUTA road in Akure.

The Police Public Relation Officer, Funmilayo Odunlami confirmed the death of the suspect, but did not give details of what led to his death.

Source: Suspect With Fresh Human Head Dies In Police Custody

Nigeria: ritual killers disguised as lovers

One of the craziest stories I read yesterday (see yesterday’s posting) follows below. It contains a wise lesson but also a chilling story. Whereas at fist sight it reports on ‘ordinary’ criminal activities, the reader soon discovers that more is going on: ritualistic activities, ‘money business’, ‘money rituals’ – and that’s the reason why the article has been included here.

The incidents took place in various parts of the country, not related to a particular region, social class, or ethnic group. The first mentioned murder occurred recently in Lagos (June 2021), but other reported ‘money rituals’ happened in Benue State, Ogun State, Ondo State, Osun State, and – again – Lagos State (2012, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021). Some of these murder cases have been reported on extensively earlier on this site.

Warning: Some readers may find the following story disturbing (FVDK).

MORE AND MORE NIGERIANS ARE FALLING VICTIM TO HARBINGERS OF DEATH DISGUISING AS LOVERS, KUNLE AKINRINADE REPORTS FOLLOWING THE CASE OF A COMPANY’S CHIEF EXECUTIVE FOUND DEAD LAST SUNDAY IN A LAGOS SERVICE APARTMENT HE ALLEGEDLY LODGED IN WITH A SIDE CHIC.

Published: June 26, 2021
By: The Nation, Nigeria- Kunle Akinrinade

Incidents of individuals’ death in the process of romance with the opposite sex increased by one early in the week with the demise of billionaire businessman and chief executive officer of Super TV, Michael Usifo Ataga, allegedly after an outing with a side chic.

Ataga, a resident of highbrow Banana Island in Lagos, was said to have been reported missing on Sunday by concerned friends and family members as his whereabouts became unknown.

Everyone, including his wife and children who were resident in Abuja, was said to have become worried when the checks made at Ataga’s office in Victoria Island, Lagos showed that he was nowhere in sight while he could also not be found at his Banana Island residence.

It turned out later that his lifeless body was found in a three-bedroom service apartment in Lekki Phase 1, Lagos with multiple wounds inflicted on his body and several withdrawals made from his bank account supposedly by a mystery woman he had checked into the apartment with.

Investigation conducted by security agents would later reveal that Ataga’s death occurred about two weeks after he met the woman in question and they checked into the said apartment at Lekki Phase 1.

A combined team of the police and DSS operatives from Abuja were said to have unveiled the identity of the owner of the apartment in which Ataga was found dead and it was discovered that she had received payments from the side chic’s bank account into which Ataga himself had previously made a transfer.

Happily, the side chic in question has since been tracked down by security operatives and arrested alongside the owner of the Lekki Phase 1 apartment.

One death too many

Ataga’s case is one in the long list of Nigerians who in recent times have fallen victim to murderous fraudsters disguising as lovers. For instance, when Akin Alupaida invited his girlfriend from her base in Ibadan, Oyo State to his base in Apomu, Isokan Local Government Area, Osun State on June 8, the unnamed lady had no reason to suspect that she was about to be murdered by the man that had professed love to her.

However, the said lady was butchered into pieces by her supposed lover after a romp at an apartment belonging to the latter’s friend. The police said that Akin’s accomplice and owner of the apartment, Kabiru Oyeduntan, barged into the room and assisted his friend in strangling the 20-year-old lady to death and dismembering her for ritual purposes.

Parading Oyeduntan at the Osun Police Command headquarters on June 11, the Commissioner of Police, Wale Olokode, explained that the suspect was arrested based on a tip-off from members of the public. Olokode said the head, wrist, and other parts of the lady’s body were found by detectives inside a box in one of the suspect’s rooms.

In his confession, Oyeduntan said the lady in question was killed for the purpose of using her for money rituals by his identified as Akin (O’clumsy) Alupaida.

He said: “It was my friend that brought the lady to my place from Ibadan. But he already told me that he wanted to do a money ritual. He sought my assistance and promised to give me N50,000. I agreed.”

“While he was having sex with her, I came in and assisted him to hold her two legs, and he strangled her to death.

“Akin was the one who dismembered the lady’s body. He removed the heart, private parts and took them away.”

Eighteen months after she mysteriously disappeared amid preparations for her wedding in December 2019, the remains of Josephine Cynthia Onche, an operative of the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), were found in a shallow grave in the Obi Local Government Area, Benue State, where her body was dumped after she was killed for rituals by the same man she had announced in a wedding invite as her husband to-be.

The arrest of Josephine’s would-be husband, Christopher, led to the exhumation of her body from a shallow grave in a local government close to Otukpo.

It was said that a commercial motorcyclist who knew about the incident reported to Josephine’s family.

Christopher had allegedly brought in a native doctor from Ogun State to carry out money rituals with Josephine’s body parts.

“The commercial motorcycle rider led security operatives to arrest Christopher, an Igbo man, and he led the police to Ogun State where they arrested a native doctor who allegedly performed a ritual with the woman’s body in Obi Local Government Area of Benue State before returning to Ogun State,” a source reportedly said.

Like Osun and Benue incidents, the murder of the first daughter of former Deputy Governor of Ondo State, Khadijat Olubiyo, made headlines in 2018.

Khadijat, a final year student of Adekunle Ajasin University in Akungba Akoko (AAUA) was allegedly strangled to death by her boyfriend, Seidu Adeyemi, who was said to have buried her remains in a shallow grave in his room in Okearo area of Akure, the state capital, covered it with the rug and slept on the grave for five days.

In 2019, one Abosede Adeyemi Iyanda was gruesomely murdered by her former boyfriend, Segun Olaniyi, who dismembered her and used her body parts for money-making rituals.

As the story goes, Olaniyi, 42, was Abosede’s ex-lover, who promised to help her with some money but instead hatched a plan to use her for money rituals.

Olaniyi called one Akanbi Babalola and Ayo Adeleye on the phone to come and do the slaughtering of the woman who was formerly his girlfriend but now married to another man when she visited him in his offshore office.

While in his office, Olaniyi told Adeleye to go and buy food for the woman, who they said felt very tired after walking a long distance to get there. Segun then put in the food a drug that would make her feel weak and sleepy.

Olaniyi later told her to go to the stream beside his office and wash her hair while she was completely naked. He asked Adeleye and Akanbi to lead her there.

But while Abosede was washing her hair, Adeleye pushed her head into the river, brought out a pocket knife and killed her. Both of them then pulled her body out from the river and dismembered it, separating the flesh from the bones as instructed by Olaniyi.

They later cut the flesh into pieces and sold them to some herbalists, alfas and a pastor who needed them for money rituals. Some of them also allegedly roasted the meat and ate it, washing it down with hot drinks.

Police said that Olaniyi was tracked and arrested, and his arrest led to the recovery of Abosede’s body parts from different Ogun villages where he buried or sold her mutilated remains.

Other suspects arrested in connection with Abosede’s murder include Adeifa Sogbeyinde (37), Rasaq Rasaq Arabs (27), Sunday Akinyemi (41), Adewole Olwafemi aka Pastor (38), Mustapha Ajibola aka Alfa (31), Mustapha Iliya (30), Shilola Amodu aka Alfa (38), Jamiu Abass (25), Smooth  Kazeem aka Alfa (37) and Adesola  Oduyemi (56).

Confessing, Olaniyi said: “She called me on the phone saying that she was coming to see me. I asked her the reason for her visit and she said she wanted financial assistance to boost her business.

“I called Akanbi, who is my helping hand, and told him to come around because someone would be visiting us. Already, we had work at hand, so Akanbi suggested that we use her for the work.

“We killed her beside my house. I took the head, two hands and part of the meat. I sold the head to Africa for N40,000. I sold one of the hands to an orthodox doctor named Murideen for N15,000 and the other hand to Tonight for N15,000. I sold the flesh to one Alfa named Sunday Akinyemi (N10,000), Rasaq (N5,000) and Mustafa (N5,000).

“It was Ajibola that introduced Mustapha Iliya to me. I used part of the flesh to do powdered medicine which if taken with a hot drink would draw customers.

“At times, we kill the husbands of some of our customers to turn them into widows so that they would join us in bringing victims to be slaughtered.”

His confession led the IRT detectives to Abeokuta and different Ogun villages like Ifo, Itori, Papalanto and Adigbe, where eleven suspects were arrested and eight of them confessed to the kidnapping, killing and selling of the body parts of the victim.

Among the items recovered by IRT operatives were decomposed human breasts, burnt human flesh mixed with  liquid substance in a bottle and calabash, one complete human foot, pieces of dry human skull, a Laura SUV with registration number KTU801FP, one Bajaj Boxer motorcycle with Registration number JGB019VC, one unregistered Toyota Corolla and one Toyota Matrix with Registration number AKD703FU.

Other recent cases

It will be recalled that in June 2020, a 39-year-old man, Chris Ndukwe, committed suicide in Lagos after killing his 25-year-old girlfriend, Olamide Alli.

Police said that Ndukwe and Alli were found dead at the former’s residence at Road 5, House 16A, Victory Point Estate, Ilasan, Lagos, after a tip-off to officers of Ilasan Police Station.

A statement issued by the then police spokesman, Bala Elkana, said: “The woman was found lying in a pool of blood, with deep cuts on her head, while the man’s mouth was foaming with whitish substance.

“It was alleged that the man stabbed the woman to death with a kitchen knife and thereafter drank some poisonous substances suspected to be insecticides.

“Two blood-stained kitchen knives, two empty bottles of the poisonous substances, three empty cans of Red Bull energy drink and a plier were recovered from the scene.”

Elkana added that family members of the deceased lovers revealed that they were not married but had a relationship for over seven years, adding that they had two boys, aged seven and three.

He said: “Their relationship is described as complicated, as the couples were on and off over the years. While the man lives at Victory Point Estate Ibadan, the woman lives at Ogba (Lagos).

“The woman was said to have visited the man alongside her 22-year-old sister a night before the incident, on his invitation.

He said that Alli’s sister was the first to have noticed that they were both dead and raised the alarm.

Elkana added: “In her (Alli’s sister) statement, she was woken up by a loud music from the room where the corpses were found, as herself and the kids slept in a different room.”

On July 21, 2012, a postgraduate student of Nasarawa State University, Cynthia Osokogu, then 25 years old, was lured from Abuja to Lagos by Okwumo Nwabufo, who she had met and befriended on Facebook.

Nwabufo had paid for the deceased’s flight ticket from Abuja and lodged her in Room C1 at Cosmilla Hotel, Lake View Estate, Festac Town, Lagos, where he later connived with one Olisaeloka Ezike, and murdered the young lady.

The duo drugged Cynthia by putting Rohypnol in her drink after which they tied her hands and legs and also gagged her mouth with a handkerchief and part of her hair weave on.

Cynthia’s killers thereafter stole her two Blackberry mobile phones, jewellery, sex toy vibrator, passport and a pair of shoes.

In December 2019, a 23-year old man, Adeeko Owolabi, reportedly connived with a 42-year-old self-acclaimed pastor of a white garment church, Segun Philip, to murder his girlfriend and final year Sociology student at the Lagos State University, Favour Daley-Oladele.

According to the spokesman of Ogun State Police Command, Owolabi, who was arrested in Ikoyi-Ile area of Osun State, confessed that he used his girlfriend to prepare a ritual meal for himself and his own mother who he claimed had been broke.

According to Oyeyemi, “the deceased was reported to have left home to an unknown destination since the 8th of December, 2019 and had not been seen since then; hence, she was reported missing by her parents at Mowe Police Station.

“Upon the report, the DPO Mowe Division, SP Marvis Jayeola, detailed his crack detectives to unravel the mystery behind the sudden disappearance of the 22-year-old woman.

Source: Killer lovers on the prowl – Concerns over activities of crime merchants disguising as lovers

Security challenges in Nigeria

This is the third posting in a row focussing the huge and apparently growing security problems which nearly 200 million Nigerians are facing daily. On January 30, I published Nigeria: curbing the menace of ritual killings in the South West and on January 31 I posted Nigeria: Insecurity: Government must keep its end in this social contract, says Ekhomu.

Nigeria’s security problems have many faces. In the northeast of the country Boko Haram terrorizes the population and has disrupted ordinary, daily life. The exact number of victims of the jihadist terrorist organization which also operates in neighboring Cameroon, Chad and Niger, can no longer be counted. It is estimated that since the beginning of the uprising, in 2002,  between 25,000 and 30,000 people have been killed, over two million people have been displaced, and a countless number of children have been kidnapped – girls for sexual motives, boys to be forcibly recruited as soldier in the terrorist organization which originally started as a campaign against corrupt officials.

The seemingly perennial violent conflicts between herders and farmers in several states also have cost thousands of  people their lives. Furthermore, a countless number of people have been abducted by kidnappers, bandits and cultists. Moreover, superstition and the greed for (more) power, prestige or success are at the origin of the notorious ‘money-rituals’ for which Nigeria is known and which is feared by virtually the entire population, not only in the southeastern states as my posting of January 30 could suggest. Last but not least, ‘ordinary’ criminal killings, manslaughter, murder and extrajudicial killings by security personnel add to the many security challenges which Nigeria is facing. 

In the coming days and weeks I will elaborate on the ‘money-rituals’ and the criminal activities of cultists, herbalists, witchdoctors, and other perpetrators of heinous, criminal ritualistic acts. If a government wants to effectively fight and eradicate this ugly, partly traditional phenomenon it will have to take the overall (in)security situation of the country into consideration.

The author of the article reproduced here, Femi Falana, SAN, is a Human Rights Lawyer and a recipient of the prestigious Bernard Simmons Award of the International Bar Association. In his article he explains the violent clashes between herders and farmers, and provides a possible solution to their conflict which basically is a dispute over land. Although the topic of his article is beyond the main focus of the present website, the article is reproduced here in its entirety, not only for a well-deserved respect for the author but also for information reasons as well as to illustrate that for every problems there exists a solution (webmaster FVDK).

Violent Clashes Between Herders and Farmers: A Legal Panacea

Published: February 2, 2021
By: This Day, Nigeria – Femi Falana SAN

Introduction

From 1999 to 2021, thousands of people have been brutally killed in herders/farmers’ clashes in several States of the Federation. The mindless killings have continued, due to official impunity and negligence which have led to the virtual collapse of the security architecture of the neocolonial State. Hundreds of other citizens have been abducted by gangs of kidnappers and bandits. While some of the abducted people were killed in gruesome circumstances, others were released after the payment of ransoms running into hundreds of millions of Naira by their family members. The hardened criminal elements, have subjected abducted women to sexual abuse. Over 100 school girls in captivity, have been forced to marry their abductors. In spite of the routine assurance of the security of life and property of every citizen, the Federal Government appears to have lost the monopoly of violence to the criminal gangs.

As a result of desert encroachment, the Fulani herders have been forced to seek fertile land for grazing of their cattle in the middle belt and southern parts of the country. Since the State has failed to address the challenge of desertification, the herders have continued to graze their cattle in the bush. In the process, they graze their cattle without regard to State laws and the rights of the farm owners. In struggling to survive on fertile land, the herders attack farmers who resist the invasion of their land. They attack farmers with AK 47 rifles, which have been acquired to protect cattle from rustlers. The violent clashes between herders and farmers have continued, due to the failure of successive governments to revive the ranches inherited from the regional governments of the First Republic, but which collapsed during years of the locusts under successive military regimes.

History of Ranching in Nigeria

The point that I am struggling to make is that, ranching is not a new phenomenon in the country. It is on record that the regimes of Ahmadu Bello, Obafemi Awolowo and Nnamdi Azikiwe established ranches in the Northern, Western and Eastern regions respectively. The Obudu Cattle Ranch which was the oldest in the country, was established in 1951 by a Scot, but was later taken over by the Eastern Regional Government. The Northern Regional Government established a ranch in Mokwa (Niger State). In the West, there were ranches in Iseyin (Oyo State), Oke Ako (Ekiti State) and Akunu (Ondo State).

Under the Yakubu Gowon regime (1966-1975) , the Kano State Government headed by Police Commissioner Audu Bako, established ranches in the State. All the ranches collapsed during the years of the locusts, under successive military juntas. The famous Obudu Cattle Ranch has since been turned to Obudu holiday resort.

In 2014, the Jonathan regime decided to establish ranches in the country. A team of young people were sponsored to learn animal husbandry in Botswana, while the sum of N100 billion was released to some State Governments to establish the ranches. In a recent probe, the House of Representatives confirmed that the money was diverted, as not a single ranch was established.

In 2016, the Buhari regime also opted for the establishment of ranches, in order to end the perennial violent conflicts between farmers and herders. About 55,000 hectares were acquired in 11 States, for the project. The Federal Government also announced its plan to disarm the herders, and other armed bandits. But, instead of establishing the ranches and disarming the herders, the Federal Government has handled the violent clashes between farmers and herdsmen rather lackadaisically. The sudden embrace of cattle colony or RUGA policy by the Federal Government, was suspected by many citizens as a design to take over and turn over land seized from farmers to herders.

Clashes and Kidnapping

Even though the dangerous policy has been dropped, the plan to establish ranches has equally been abandoned. In recent times, the clashes between herders and farmers has been compounded by many incidents of kidnapping that have been traced to some herders. Owing to the failure of the Federal Government to bring the situation under control, some people have reported to self help and jungle justice. The various State Governments have come up with policies such as enactment of anti-grazing laws, and compulsory registration of all herders and farmers operating in forest reserves. The Umar Ganduje administration, once invited displaced herders in Benue and Taraba States to Kano state.

Instead of adopting knee jerk reactions to the crisis, the Federal Government and State Governments should encourage the immediate establishment of ranches. Apart from ending clashes between herders and farmers, the policy will lead to large scale production of meat which will be distributed throughout the country, and possibly exported. Ranching is working in Botswana, Mozambique, Kenya and South Africa. It has worked before in Nigeria. It can work again. Let the Authorities move speedily to end the violent clashes between herders and farmers, without any further delay. Let the Authorities adopt proactive measures to end kidnapping, banditry, armed robbery and ritual murder, as well as extrajudicial killing by security agencies.

State Governments and Security Challenges

A few years ago, armed robbers launched violent attacks on banks in Lagos State. The criminals killed many bankers, customers and security personnel, and carted away millions of Naira. The then Babatunde Fashola administration, sought the permission of the Federal Government to purchase and import some modern security equipment and gadgets. As soon as the licence was granted by President Umaru Yar’adua, the Lagos State Government brought in the equipment and gave them to the State Police Command. Armed with such equipment, the Police succeeded in securing the banks and other commercial institutions in the State. Shortly thereafter, about 20 well armed members of the Boko Haram sect sneaked into the State and concluded plans to launch bombing attacks on people, religious centres and schools. The terrorists were arrested and detained under the Terrorism Act, a Federal offence. The State Government requested the Federal Government, to try the dangerous suspects.

When it became clear that the Federal Government was foot dragging over the matter, the Attorney-General of Lagos State applied for the fiat of the Attorney-General of the Federation to enable him to prosecute the terror suspects. As soon as the fiat was granted, the suspects were tried, convicted and jailed.

In another development, the State Government faced fresh security challenges when another set of criminal elements embarked on kidnapping school children and other innocent people. Again, with the acquisition of more sophisticated equipment by the Lagos State Government, the Police Command has frontally attacked the crisis and brought the situation under control. About three years ago, the Inspector-General of Police Monitoring Unit recently arrested a billionaire kidnap suspect, Mr. Chukwudimene Onwuamadike (a.k.a Evans). The suspect was alleged to have specialised in extorting millions of dollars and other foreign currencies, from victims of his criminal enterprise. At the end of the Police investigation, the Lagos State Government took over the matter and has since charged the suspect and his cohorts with armed robbery and kidnapping, before the Lagos high court.

Before then, the Ondo State Government had invoked its sovereign powers to deal with the challenge of insecurity. On September 21, 2015, Chief Olu Falae, a former Secretary to the Federal Government was kidnapped by a gang of kidnappers on his farm at Ago Abo in the outskirts of Akure, Ondo State. The criminals demanded a ransom of N100 million, for his release. President Muhammadu Buhari who was embarrassed by the report of the incident, directed the Inspector-General of Police to rescue Chief Falae without further delay. The Chief regained his freedom three days later, after the payment of an undisclosed ransom. The seven kidnap suspects (Abubakar Auta, Bello Jannu, Umaru Ibrahim, Masahudu Mohammed, Idris Lawal, Abdulkadir Umar and Babawo Kato) were arrested and paraded by the Police at Abuja, in the Federal Capital Territory.

As soon as the investigation was concluded by the Police Headquarters, the then Ondo State Government decided to take over the case in exercise its constitutional powers. Since the case had disclosed that the offence of kidnapping was committed in Ondo State, the then State Attorney-General, Mr. Tayo Jegede, SAN requested the Police to transfer the suspects to Akure, together with the case file and the exhibits recovered during the investigation of the case. As soon as the suspects were brought to Akure, they were charged with conspiracy and kidnapping before the Ondo State High Court. At the end of the marathon trial, the presiding Judge, the Honourable Justice Williams Olamide found the Defendants guilty as charged, convicted and sentenced them to life imprisonment.

No doubt, by prosecuting the dangerous kidnappers and armed robbers, both Attorneys-General of Lagos and Ondo States have demonstrated that State Governments are not encumbered from maintaining law and order in their areas of jurisdiction. It is my strong belief that it is the failure of other Attorneys-General to enforce relevant criminal and penal codes, that has led to a breakdown of law in several States of the Federation. Even though hundreds of suspects have been arrested in several parts of the country by the combined teams of Police and Army personnel for abducting several people including children, they have not been brought to book by the Attorneys-General of the affected States. Majority of critics who are not aware that it is the exclusive constitutional responsibility of State Attorneys-General to prosecute suspects indicted for the offences of kidnapping, armed robbery and culpable homicide, have continued to blame the Federal Government for not prosecuting herders who have been arrested by security agencies.

Welfare of the People

Since a country cannot be secured by a Government that is not prepared to attend to the welfare of the people, the Constitution has outlined the socioeconomic rights of the people and embodied them in Chapter two of the Constitution. The said socioeconomic rights are otherwise called, the Fundamental Objectives and Directive Principles of State Policy. Even though the ruling class has made them not justiciable, the workers in alliance with other progressive civil society organisations have compelled the Government to enact a number of laws to promote the welfare of the people. But, the welfare laws have not been implemented due to alleged lack of ,funds in spite of the nation’s enormous wealth. On account of the failure of the Government to fund welfare programmes, Nigeria is said to have the largest number of poor people in the world.

The economic paradox has been fuelled by large scale looting of public funds, by the ruling class. Most of the problems at the root of insecurity in Nigeria, are traceable to the implementation of neoliberal policies imposed on the nation by imperialism. Over 25 million young people including university graduates, are in the unemployment market. In addition to that figure, there are over 10 million children of school age who are roaming the streets, which is said to be the highest figure in the world. Not unexpectedly, such street kids are easily recruited by terrorists, bandits and other criminal gangs to unleash mayhem on the people. The hijack of the recent #EndSARS protests by hoodlums and other criminal elements, has confirmed that the nation is sitting on a keg of gunpowder.

Conclusion

Since armed robbery, kidnapping and murder or culpable homicide are State offences, we have pointed out that State Governments ought to be blamed for failing to end impunity, by prosecuting the herders and other criminal suspects arrested and indicted for kidnapping and killing of innocent people. Instead of engaging in ethnic profiling, concerned citizens should be organised to prevail on the Federal and State Governments to discharge their constitutional duty of protecting the life and property of every citizen. The Governments should also be compelled to put an end to the perennial violent conflicts between farmers and herders, which have needlessly claimed many lives and the destruction of properties worth several billions of Naira in many States of the Federation. As a matter of urgency, herders and bandits should be disarmed by the Federal Government. Having embraced ranching as a permanent solution to the clashes between herders and farmers, the Federal Government and State Governments should proceed to establish ranches in a number of States.

Femi Falana, SAN, Human Rights Lawyer, recipient of the prestigious Bernard Simmons Award of the International Bar Association

Source: Violent Clashes Between Herders and Farmers: A Legal Panacea

Opinion: Insecurity in Ondo state, Nigeria

In this features article, Legit.ng’s regional reporter in Akure, Oluwadamilare Moriyeke, writes on how tackling insecurity in Ondo state is becoming more difficult for the security agencies.

I have earlier reported on the growing insecurity situation in Ondo state, notably the alarming increase in number of ritualistic killings. See my posts dated April 19, 23, 28, 29 and May 2 of the current year.
The cases mentioned below are no new cases, but the purpose of this post is to demonstrate the growing uneasiness (read: fear) of the population of Ondo state. One of the unalienable human rights is the right to be without fear. It is an obligation of the state to protect its citizens and to guarantee a peaceful life. To realize this, the rule of law is indispensable. 
(webmaster FVDK)

Opinion: Insecurity in Ondo State

Published: May 15, 2019
By: Wale Akinola – NAIJ.com 

(….)
But now, it is more pronounced in gruesome murder, arson and abduction for ritual purposes as the state records nothing less than five incidents within the past five weeks.

In Ondo city, the headquarters of Ondo west local government, a 62-year old woman with hunchback, Ibironke Abodunde, was reportedly abducted by some gunmen and all efforts to find her were to no avail. There were rumours that her son sold the mother to ritualists for N7 million but there arose a heated argument between the ritualists and the said son, who was asked to return the money after the purpose for her hunchback failed. According to report, they threatened to kill him if he did not refund their money and he too insisted that they should return his mother, who was kidnapped while selling fish, before they could get their money. However, the first child of the woman out of two, Monsurat, refuted the report and revealed that their mother did not have any son, adding that the only male child by the woman died at infancy some months after birth. Nonetheless, a source within the family pointed out that the son might be mistaken for one of her tenant, who is a herbalist and had disappeared since the incident happened.

Without leaving the vulnerable group, a septuagenarian mother of five, Medinat Ala, was killed at her residence by suspected ritualists, who removed her womb, vag.ina and brea.sts at Okeagbe area of Ikare, the headquarters of Akoko north east council. The landlady, Ala, was attacked in the wee hours of the day and clubbed to death with pestle before they removed those vital organs from her body. It was learnt that a neighbour who wanted to rescue her was attacked too and later died in the hospital. According to sources, one of the tenants, Moses Olaniyi, is now in the police net as prime suspect to the crime, while the youths and community leaders are on the watch to stop a re-occurrence as there were two cases of such incidents in recent past.

Similarly, a 80-year old Mrs. Kajosla Mogaji, was also killed under same gruesome circumstance as her head was battered and found dead in a pool of blood the next morning.
(….)

Source: Opinion: Insecurity in Ondo and concept of ‘Abiku’ by Oluwadamilare Moriyeke

Nigeria – ritual killings: Ondo community on marathon prayers, fasting

Published: May 7, 2019
By: Damisi Ojo, Akure  

Disturbed by two recent incidents of ritual killings which occurred simultaneously in Arigidi, Akoko Northeast local government area of Ondo state, the Zaki Arigidi,-in-council has pronounced the commencement of interdenominational prayer session and fasting to curtail the menace.

Besides, the community leaders employed the service of traditionalists and vigilante group for action.

Two women were killed in the community within one week interval, their breasts were clinically removed, a development that was strange to Arigidi Akoko community regarded as very peaceful.

Oba Yisa Olanipekun met with women who are family members of victims of the gruesome killing.

The monarch disclosed that an indigene of Arigidi Akoko from Ogo quarters, Tunde Ajileye alias Efo, 30 year old had been napped when his father surrendered him to the traditional ruler who handed him to the police.

The police men took him to Akure to join two other suspects now at the state Criminal Investigation Department, Akure.

A woman leader, Mrs. Ayoka Oshodi on behalf other women blamed youths looking for blood money.

She appealed to parents to monitor their children living above their income.

The chairman, Akoko Northwest local government, Elder Samson Akande said his administration would give priority to security and generation of revenue.

He said he was not happy with the recent killings of two innocent women at Arigidi Akoko.

Akande called on his management team to liaise with traditional rulers to make sure life and property are safe in the local government.

He hailed Governor Oluwarotimi Akeredolu for his leadership style which made infrastructures possible in every nook and cranny of the state.

Source: Ritual killings: Ondo community on marathon prayers, fasting 

Related:

Ondo community laments ritual killings

Published: May 7, 2019
By: Adebayo Waheed, Ibadan

Community leaders have decried incessant ritual killings in Arigidi Akoko in Ondo State, saying the people have resorted to divine intervention.

It was gathered that the Zaki of Arigidi, Oba Yisa Olanipekun and the Oba-in-Council and the entire community have embarked on interdenominational prayers, traditional efforts coupled with local vigilante efforts to unravel the scourge of ritual killings.

This, it was further gathered was strange to Arigidi Akoko which was one of the very peaceful communities in the area.

It would be recalled two women were allegedly killed for ritual killings at Arigidi Akoko with their two breasts removed clinically.

The Zaki of Arigidi, Oba Yisa Olanipekun at a meeting with the women who were the recent victims of the gruesome killing, disclosed that a son of Arigidi Akoko from Ogo Quarters, Mr. Tunde Ajileye alias Efo, 30-year-old had been arrested.

He said his father handed him over to the traditional ruler who handed him over to the police.

While noting that he had been taken to police headquarters Akure for further interrogation, he added that three suspects were now at state Criminal Investigation Department CID, Akure for their alleged roles in ritual killings at Arigidi.

A woman leader, Mrs. Ayoka Oshodi on behalf of women, blamed youths looking for hot money, appealing to parents to be vigilant on their children living above their income.

Meanwhile, the chairman, Akoko North West Local Government Area, Elder Samson Akande said his administration would give priority to security and generation of revenue.

He said he was not happy with the recent killing of two women at Arigidi Akoko, and called on his management team to liaise with traditional rulers to make sure lives and property were safe in the area.

He commended Governor Rotimi Akeredolu for his leadership style which made infrastructure possible in the nook and crannies of Ondo State

Source: Ondo Community Laments Ritual Killings

(Cont’d) More on Ondo ‘money ritual’ murder case

MAN WHO KILLED HIS GIRLFRIEND BREAKS DOWN BEFORE BEING REMANDED IN PRISON

Khadijat Adenike Oluboyo (25) was killed in a bid for voodoo money.

Published: July 18, 2018
By Young

This is the moment the suspected Yahoo boy, Adeyemi Alao, who allegedly killed his girlfriend for money ritual – broke down in court before he was remanded in prison. The suspect was arraigned before Akure Magistrates’ Court in Ondo, state capital on Monday.

Adeyemi was accused of killing Khadijat, the daughter  a former deputy governor of Ondo State, Alhaji Lasisi Oluboyo.

Khadijat, a 400-level student of the Department of Educational Management, Adekunle Ajasin University, Akungba Akoko, Ondo State, was said to be Adeyemi’s girlfriend.

Adeyemi and two other accomplices, who were said to be at large, allegedly killed Khadijat in Adeyemi’s room.

After killing the ex-deputy governor’s daughter, Adeyemi allegedly buried the corpse in a shallow grave inside his room in the Aratusin area of Akure before he was arrested seven days later.

The accused was arraigned on  Monday on two counts of conspiracy and murder.

During the court proceedings, the  police prosecutor, Sergeant Mary Adebayo, made an application for the remand of the accused in custody pending legal advice from the Department of Public Prosecutions.

The defence counsel, Taiwo Gbadebo, did not object to the application of the prosecutor.

The magistrate, Mrs Victoria Bob-Manuel, ordered that Adeyemi be remanded in custody pending when the legal advice would come from the DPP.

She adjourned the case till August 23, 2018.

Alao Adeyemi is accused of killing Khadijat, the daughter a former deputy governor of Ondo State, Alhaji Lasisi Oluboyo.

The suspect was arraigned before Akure Magistrates’ Court in Ondo, state capital on Monday.

Adeyemi Alao

Source: Man Who Killed His Girlfriend Breaks Down Before Being Remanded In Prison
Information Nigeria, July 18, 2018

Also read:

Killer of former Ondo deputy governor daughter remand in prison

Published: July 16 or 17, 2018
By Hakeem Gbadamosi, Akure

The late Khadijat Oluboyo (25) and her murderer, her fiancee, Seidu Sakiru Adeyemi (27) who confessed he killed her for ritual purposes.

A Magistrate Court, sitting in Oke Eda, Akure, Ondo State capital, on Monday ordered the remand of Seidu Sakiru Adeyemi, the suspected killer of the daughter of the former deputy governor, Khadijat Oluboyo, in prison.

The 27-year-old suspect was dragged and arraigned before the Magistrate Court, was charged on a two-count charge of conspiracy and murder, an offence contrary to Section 316 of the Criminal Laws of Ondo State of 2006.

In the charge sheet, Adeyemi was alleged to have killed 25-year-old Khadijat, who was his girlfriend and buried her in his room.

The charge read “That you, Seidu Sakiru Adeyemi and others at large on the 27th day of July 2018, at about 7:30 pm at Aratusi street, Oke Aro, Akure, did conspire with others to a felony to wit murder contrary to section 324, Ondo State law of 2006.

“That you did kill one Khadijat Oluboyo, 25, by strangulating her to death and bury her inside your room contrary to Section 316, Ondo State law of 2006”.

The Police Prosecutor, Mary Adebayo, who briefed the court, said the accused killed Khadijat and tried to conceal the killing by burying the body of the victim inside his room.

The police prosecutor told the court that since it was a murder case the court had no jurisdiction and pleaded for his remand in prison

Adebayo prayed the court for an application to remand the accused pending the advice from the Department of Public Prosecution.

Counsel to the suspect, Taiwo Gbadebo, however, did not oppose the application.

In her ruling, Magistrate Victoria Bob Manuel ordered the remand of the suspect in Olokuta till the 23rd August 2018, pending the advice from the Director of Public Prosecution.

She also directed the police to hand over the original copies of his case file to the Ministry of Justice.

Adeyemi was arrested by police in Ondo State over the killing of her girlfriend, Khadijat for ritual purpose.

He was said to have dug a grave in his room where he buried her and covered it with her mattress for six days before he was arrested.

Khadijat, a final year Student of the State-owned Adekunle Ajasin University, Akungba-Akoko, (AAUA)’s decomposing body was found in Adeyemi’s room.

Source: Killer of former Ondo deputy governor daughter remand in prison
Nigerian Tribune, July 16 or 17, 2018

Also read:

The tragic story of Khadijat

Published: July 16 or 17, 2018
Editorial, Nigerian Tribune

The late Khadijat Oluboyo, a final year student of the Adekunle Ajasin University, Akungba-Akoko (AAUA), Ondo State, Nigeria.

THERE is a sense in which the recent murder of Miss Khadijat Adenike Oluboyo, the daughter of the immediate past deputy governor of Ondo State, Alhaji Lasisi Oluboyo, allegedly at the hands of her lover of eight years, represents a sad commentary on the abyss into which national values have sunk in Nigeria. Not only does the narrative of Khadijat’s killing drip with the increasingly loose, lewd and base direction of youth life, it also poignantly shows how futile the attempt to affect their cognition and thought processes through education has been. A university graduate, Khadihat’s lover had, without qualms, told the police how he was recruited into the gang of dupes called yahoo boys, thus confirming the claim of the bereaved father that his daughter was murdered for purposes of money-making rituals.

Khadijat was killed in the bid for voodoo money which social commentators affirm is the latest fad in town among “the big boys.” The big boys are the noveaux riches who have little or no means of livelihood but cultivate extravagant lifestyles through fraud and various wild schemes and scams. Max Weber, the famous 19th century social scientist, once posited that one of the “functions of science was to disenchant the universe,” by which he meant the suspension of myths and superstitions. But in Nigeria, young people are returning to the medieval age and resurrecting myths and superstitions in their quest for the means with which to cope with modern-day challenges.

Their peers in the West, people like Mark Zuckerberg of Facebook, have created immense wealth for themselves using their ingenuity and intellect. They created universal platforms for social communication through digital technology. Sadly, however, Nigerian youths would prefer the bizarre method of gory and gruesome murder to, in their wild imagination, attract wealth through voodoo. Often, people are propelled into action by their knowledge and persuasions and it is tragic that the country’s youths seem to have been persuaded, ensnared and obviously propelled into these bizarre actions by atavism. They must have watched their fathers in politics and the bureaucracy visiting shrines and thought it fit and proper to replicate such means for immediate social prominence. This is certainly a development for which a disoriented society like Nigeria must take the rap.

The youths pick their models from their immediate environment in politics and business and, to be frank, there aren’t many in these sectors to provide any positive inspiration. Many of these youths are more disoriented than the society that has produced them. They want immediate gratification in their quest for sudden wealth. The gap of inequality between the rich and the poor has also increased the desperation among the people. They seek immediate wealth with scant regard for the legitimacy or otherwise of the means for doing so. There is also the influence of peer groups on these youths. Truth be told, the older generation is not quite exemplary in form and content, and is offering no help to the incoming generations.

It is unfortunate and regrettable that these youths are already too immersed in living on the fast lane to have any sense of moral rectitude and retrace their steps. To a great extent, parents and guardians have been negligent in giving them a positive direction during their socialisation processes. For the youths, for whom experts insist that examples are better than precepts, it is little wonder that they have eventually turned up the way they have. The Nigerian society, in particular government at all levels, must urgently contemplate redeeming these disoriented youths for the sake of the country’s future.

The National Orientation Agency (NOA) and other information agencies have a great responsibility to offer a moral compass through the available platforms to influence the thinking of the youths and hopefully their eventual actions. It is dangerous to have the young generation hooked to an obviously redundant belief system in a world gravitating towards science, technology and artificial intelligence. In that world, they will be savages long overdue for extinction. We commiserate with the Oluboyos and wish them the fortitude to bear the irreparable loss. Needless to say, the killer must get his just deserts.

Source: The tragic story of Khadijat
Nigerian Tribune, July 16 or 17, 2018

Ondo State – Nigeria

More on Ondo ‘money ritual’ murder case (Nigeria)

I Killed former Ondo deputy governor’s daughter for Money Rituals – Boyfriend

Published: July 14, 2018

“I would have been stinking rich after seven days if I hadn’t been caught”

The Saga surrounding the murder of Khadijat the daughter of the immediate past deputy governor of Ondo State as the main suspect who also happens to be her boyfriend confessed to killing the young woman for Money ritual purposes.

After having denied direct involvement in the death of the Adekunle Ajasin University undergraduate initially, Alao Adeyemi, the suspect in the killing of the daughter of the deputy governor of Ondo state has confessed to the crime, revealing that he killed Khadijat for ritual purposes.

He had initially said that he only provided a digger for two accomplices which was used to dig the grave where Khadijat was buried in his room.

He said he was supposed to become stinking rich after sleeping with the corpse of the deputy governor’s daughter for 7 days; He was caught on the 6th day by his brother who promptly reported him to the police.

Adeyemi also known as ‘QS’ confessed to dismembering Khadijat’s body in order to bury her in a corner of his room which he succeeded in doing, burying the deceased in a grave dug in his bedroom and sleeping on it for six days before he was caught; the seventh day was supposed to be the final day.

A source said Adeyemi disclosed during interrogation at the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) that he scrapped the hair of the deceased and also removed her private part which he had taken to his native doctor in Ondo town for money ritual before burying her in the grave.

The suspect had taken the deceased for dinner at a restaurant and a bar afterwards before taking her home and killing her in connivance with two others who are still at large. After the deed had been done, the suspect used perfumes and insecticides in the room to subdue the odour from the decomposing corpse before he was arrested on the sixth day.

A police source said the suspect’s quest to get rich quickly made him kill Khadijat on the advise of a native doctor in Ondo town who reportedly informed him that the money ritual he was requesting for will require some human parts of a very close acquaintance.

Adeyemi an internet fraudster in turn acted on the advice of said native doctor and decided to settle for his girlfriend as a victim for his ritual activities.

Source: I Killed former Ondo deputy governor’s daughter for Money Rituals – Boyfriend
The Herald Nigeria, July 14, 2018

Also read:

Ex-Deputy Governor Oluboyo: The travails of a bereaved

Published: July 14, 2018
Posted By: Damisi OJO
In: News, News Update

When Khadijat Adenike Oluboyo joined the family of the immediate past deputy governor of Ondo State, Alhaji Lasisi Oluboyo and his wife Fatimat some 25 years ago, the joy of the family knew no bounds. Well-wishers came from far and near to rejoice with the Muslim family in Ikare-Akoko, headquarters of Akoko Northeast Local Government, over the arrival of the new baby.

Without a doubt, the excited parents must have vowed to live up to their responsibilities to ensure that the beautiful girl ranked among the best in her generation. She began her elementary school early, graduating into secondary school and lately to Adekunle Ajasin University, Akungba-Akoko, where she was in the final year, preparing her project in preparation for her first degree.

Unfortunately, Khadijat was cut down in her prime in a mysterious manner.

While it is generally believed that death can come at any time, the one that visited Oluboyo’s family while they anxiously awaited the day their affectionate daughter will join others for her graduation after spending a fortune to raise her to this level, was most shocking, given the circumstances that surrounded it.

The former deputy governor, his wife and other relations have been traumatised by the avoidable tragedy. His Alagbaka Extension residence in Akure, the state capital, has witnessed an influx of symphatisers since the sad incident. Political associates, religious groups and friends have all expressed shock over the death of the late Khadijat, the second child in the family. The bereaved father has alleged that Khadijat was killed for ritual purposes by her boyfriend, Adeyemi Alao, who was said to have completed his National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) in 2017, although the accused boyfriend has since denied the allegation, saying some strangers Khadijat invited to his house were responsible for her death. Grieving Oluboyo said the suspected killer wanted to give an impression that Khadijat was kidnapped after sniffing life out of her. He also believes that his daughter was hypnotised, considering the situation surrounding her leaving the campus on June 28.

The former Deputy Governor said: “We got to know that Khadijat was missing on Monday, July 2. Somebody called us that she was not available on the campus and we started looking for her. “We got in touch with her friends in the university. Her closest friend told us that they finished lecture on a Thursday and took the same vehicle to their houses. “The Friday was lecture-free. When the friend got to the room on Monday morning and could not see her, she started calling her phone numbers ceaselessly.” The bereaved father said he sent some pocket money for Khadijat’s feeding that Friday, stressing that the usual thing was that immediately she got the bank alert, she would call him back to appreciate it. But on that particular day, there was no response, a situation that prompted her mother to start calling her.

Oluboyo said Alao gave the impression that Khadijat was kidnapped on her way from his house. He noted that the way her daughter was discovered in the suspect’s room showed that the killing was for ritual purposes, adding that prayers had to be organised before the victim’s decomposed body could be found. However, Oluboyo, a devout Muslim, took his pains in good faith, saying: “I have left everything to God to judge, His judgment is more than the verdict of any human being.” Symphatisers have been trooping in from across the state and beyond to commiserate with the distressed family. Among them were the lawmaker representing Akoko Northwest/Northeast Federal Constituency, Hon. Friday Olemija, who expressed shock over Khadijat’s death.

He condemned the manner the deceased was killed by his so-called longtime lover, urging the police to urgently prosecute the case to bring the perpetrators to book and praying God to grant the bereaved families the fortitude to bear the loss. Also, Governor Oluwarotimi Akeredolu commiserated with Oluboyo over the gruesome murder of his daughter. Akeredolu, who spoke through his deputy, Agboola Alfred Ajayi, while paying a condolence visit to Oluboyo at his residence in Akure, described the incident as a big blow to the bereaved family.

The governor was accompanied by the Secretary to the State Government (SSG), Hon. Ifedayo Abegunde, and the State Commissioner for Information, Yemi Olowolabi. He urged the bereaved family, as believers in Allah, to submit to the will of God who gives and takes life. Akeredolu prayed that Allah will comfort the family over the loss and spread His wing of protection over all the people she left behind. The governor lauded the security operatives for being proactive in apprehending the suspect allegedly behind the death of Khadijat. He assured that the suspect would face the wrath of the law if at the end he is found guilty. Oluboyo, who described his daughter’s death as devastating, thanked Akeredolu for showing the family strong support and care despite their different political affiliations.

Source: Ex-Deputy Governor Oluboyo: The travails of a bereaved
The Nation, July 14, 2018

Also read:

I killed Khadijat Oluboyo to become rich in 7 days – Suspect

Published: July 13, 2018
By : Nnenna Ibeh

Khadijat Oluboyo murdered by her fiance of eight years in Ondo and the suspected killer: Adeyemi Alao

– Alao Adeyemi, the suspect in the killing of the daughter of the deputy governor of Ondo state has revealed why he committed the crime
– Adeyemi said he killed Khadijat for ritual purposes
– According to him, he was supposed to become very rich after seven days of killing the deceased

The prime suspect in the killing of Khadijat Oluboyo, a daughter to the former deputy governor of Ondo state, Alao Adeyemi, has said that he killed her to become rich.

Adeyemi confessed to killing Khadijat with the sole purpose of becoming rich within a period of seven days.
According to Vanguard, sources at the Nigeria Police said the suspect also known as QS dismembered Khadijat’s body in order to bury her in a corner of his room.

The suspect, a son of a bricklayer, Alhaji Alani Alao, who hails from Osun state buried the deceased in a grave he dug in his bedroom, and slept on the decomposing corpse for six days before he was found out.
A source said Adeyemi during interrogation at the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) disclosed that he scrapped the hair of the deceased and also removed her private part which he had taken to his native doctor in Ondo town for money ritual before burying her in the grave.
It was gathered that a night before her death, Khadijat and Adeyemi went to a restaurant for dinner and branched at a drinking joint before they retired to the lover boy’s New Oke-Aro extension residence. While he was joined by two others, who are at large to commit to heinous crime, Adeyemi continued to spray insecticide and perfume to subdue the odour from the decomposing body. He was arrested on the sixth day after the killing happened.

A police source said if Khadijat’s body had been allowed to continue decomposing in Adeyemi’s house, he would have become stinking rich. The source said Adeyemi’s quest to get rich quickly made him kill Khadijat after a native doctor in Ondo town reportedly informed him that the money ritual he was requesting for will require some human parts of a very close acquaintance. The advice by the native doctor led Adeyemi, a Yahoo Plus Club (internet fraudsters) member, to settle for his girlfriend as a victim of his ritual activities.

Meanwhile, NAIJ.com previously reported that Adeyemi had denied killing the daughter of the former deputy governor of Ondo state. He claimed he was not directly involved in the killing of Khadijat. Adeyemi speaking while he was paraded by police said he only provided a digger for two accomplices which was used to dig the grave where Khadijat was buried in his room.

Source: I killed Khadijat Oluboyo to become rich in 7 days – Suspect (scroll)
The Herald Nigeria, July 13, 2018

Also read:

Ex-Ondo Dep Gov’s daughter’s murder: Suspect’s family disappears

Published: July 13, 2018
By Dayo Johnson

Late Khadijat Oluboyo

Akure—Barely 24 hours after the suspected killer of the daughter of the former deputy governor of Ondo State, Adeyemi Alao was paraded by Police, his family members have vacated their residence. Adeyemi was paraded by the police in the state for alleged ritual killing of his fiancée of eight years Khadijat and burying her in inside his room. Khadijat was a final year student of Adekunle Ajasin University, Akungba-Akoko, before her murder.

The father of the suspect Alhaji Alani Alao reportedly moved out of the house with his family members late Wednesday to an unknown destination.

Vanguard gathered that this was sequel to the parade of their son by the state Police command.

The main building where the father of the suspect resided and the boys-quarters where the suspect and three other tenants lived were desolate yesterday.

The doors and windows to the two building were shut while the father Mercedes Benz with Osun State registration number had been removed from the frontage of his house.

A neighbour told Vanguard that many people trooped to the house located at the new Oke Aro extension that same Wednesday their son was paraded by the Police and yesterday after they saw the suspect on the television stations and heard of his atrocities on Radio.

“They just left the house because of the shame the incident had brought to the family,” the neighbour added, saying they did not confide in anybody before leaving, but that he just noticed that the father and members of family drove out of the house late on Wednesday and had not returned yesterday.

He said: “Not one soul slept in the two buildings overnight and there is no guarantee that anyone will sleep there for some time.

“It is clear that they have relocated because of the shame and the name calling that the incident would attract to them. It’s really unfortunate.”

Recall that the mother of the suspect simply referred to as Alhaja, the three tenants in the boys quarters and some landlords had before now gone into hiding for fear of arrest by security operatives investigating the murder case.

Father mourns

Meanwhile, the father of the deceased, Alhaji Lasisis Oluboyo said due to his religion, he would not seek vengeance against his daughter’s alleged killer in the law court.

He said this when a delegation of the state government led by the deputy governor Agboola Ajayi and Information Commissioner, Yemi Olowolabi, visited him.

Alhaji Lasisi who described her daughter’s death as devastating thanked the government for showing the family strong support and care despite their different political affiliation.

Gov Akeredolu condoles with family

The state governor, Rotimi Akeredolu, earlier commiserated with the family of Lasisi over the gruesome murder of their daughter.

Akeredolu who urged the bereaved family as believers of Allah to submit to the will of God who gives and takes life prayed that Allah will comfort the family over the loss and spread his wing of protection over all others she left behind.

A statement by his Chief Press Secretary, Segun Ajiboye lauded the security operatives for being proactive in apprehending the suspect allegedly behind the death of Khadijat.

The governor lauded the security operatives for being proactive in apprehending the suspected killer and urged them to carry out a thorough investigation and ensure that justice is served in the matter. Akeredolu, however, advised youths, especially students, to face their studies and to always shun acts that are capable of jeopardising their future.

Source: Ex-Ondo Dep Gov’s daughter’s murder: Suspect’s family disappears 
Vanguard, July 13, 2018

Also read:

Ex-Ondo Dep Gov’s daughter’s murder: My girlfriend came with boys that raped, strangled her—Suspect

Published: July 12, 2018
By Dayo Johnson

Late Khadijat Oluboyo

Police describe his story as cock and bull

Akure—Adeyemi Alao, yesterday, said the two boys that raped and killed his fiancée, Khadijat Oluboyo, daughter of the former deputy governor of Ondo State, came with her to his room.

The deceased was allegedly murdered for ritual purpose by her fiancée and buried inside his room at his Oke Aro extension residence in Akure.

This came as family sources hinted that the victim has been buried after the completion of post-mortem examination.

Alao, who was paraded by the state Police Command, said he joined cyber crime, popularly known as Yahoo Yahoo, this year but upgraded to Yahoo Plus to earn more money.

According to him, his friend introduced him to Yahoo Plus, which involves ritual activities after he complained to his friend that he was not getting the expected money from being a member of Yahoo club.

Speaking during an interview before he was paraded, the suspect said: “Khadijat has been my girlfriend since 2010 and she visited me to help her in writing her final year project. She slept in my place on Thursday and left the following day.

“She sent a text message to me on Monday, July 2, that I should send some money to her. But I was surprised to see her that same Monday when she came with two boys to my room.

“I left her in my room with the two boys, but they called me 30 minutes later and when I came in one of the guys brought out a gun and ordered me to kneel down, while the other was making love to Khadijat, who was naked on my bed.

“Khadijat was begging them to leave, promising not to tell anyone about what happened. But they strangled her and ordered me to get a digger and shovel. I thought they wanted to use the chance to escape. “But when I came back to the room, they were still there and ordered me to dig the grave, where we buried her and covered it with the rug.”

‘I don’t know the boys’

Asked why he failed to alert his parents or tenants when he was ordered to look for the digger and shovel, Alao said: “The tenants were busy watching a World Cup match and the noise from the home theatre in my room was too loud to make them know what was happening even when we were digging the grave in my room.

“The two boys left after burying her and I couldn’t sleep in my room that day. I had to sleep in my brother’s room and I could not tell anyone because no one would believe my story.

“I don’t know the two guys. Although they have visited my place thrice with Khadijat, I don’t know them or their names. I have been dating Khadijat since 2010 and know nothing about these boys; she invited them. I don’t know their names, but I can recognise them.”

On motive, the suspect said: “I did not kill Khadijat for money ritual, though I joined Yahoo business this year and never made any headway. I later joined Yahoo Plus to make more money, but I not to do any ritual.”

Police react

However, the state’s Police image-maker, Femi Joseph, described the suspect’s defence as infantile and dismissed his “cock and bull story.” His words: “His defence is very infantile and does not hold any water. I am very sure in the next 24 hours, when he will be charged to court, he should begin to talk.”

Police sources hinted that the defence put up by the suspect was to divert attention as he had confessed during interrogation that he and the other suspects, now at large, killed the victim for rituals.

Meanwhile, the Police image-maker, while speaking on the arrest, said the Command was alerted by an informant.

According to Joseph, “we met the suspect, who happened to be the boyfriend of late Khadijat, in his room trying to pack her remains in a sack. This is to tell you that he killed Khadijat.

“The suspect mentioned some other suspects, now at large, but we found out that he single-handedly looked for digger and shovel, dug the grave and buried Khadijat.”

Source: Ex-Ondo Dep Gov’s daughter’s murder: My girlfriend came with boys that raped, strangled her—Suspect
Vanguard, July 12, 2018

Also read:

Killer of Oluboyo’s daughter confesses, mentions two accomplices

Published: July 12, 2018
By Hakeem Gbadamosi, Akure

The late Khadijat Oluboyo

INDICATIONS emerged on Wednesday that two other accomplices partook in the killing of the daughter of the former Ondo deputy governor, Khadijat, who was allegedly killed by her boyfriend for money ritual.

The main suspect, Adeyemi Alao, who made this confession during his parade by the Ondo State Police Command in Akure, the state capital, said the two other suspects took to their heels after killing the final year student of Adekunle Ajasin University, Akungba Akoko.

Explaining how the young lady was murdered, Adeyemi said her girlfriend of eight years was killed by the other two suspects but he dug the grave inside his room where the girl was buried.

Giving the graphic details, Adeyemi said “Khadijat was my girlfriend since 2010 and she visited me to help her in writing her final project in school. She slept in my place on Thursday and left on Friday the following day.

“She sent a text message to me on Monday, 2nd July that I should send some money to her. But I was surprised to see her that same Monday when she came with two boys to my room.

“I left her in my room with the two boys but when they called me some 30 minutes later, one of the guys brought out a gun and ordered me to kneel down while one of them was making love to Khadijat who was naked on my bed”

Adeyemi said further, “Khadijat was begging them to leave and promising not to tell anyone about what happened but they strangulated her in the process and ordered me to go and bring digger and shovel.

“I thought they wanted to use that to escape from the scene of the incident but when I entered the room they were still there and ordered me to dig the grave where we buried her in my room and covered it with the rug. ”

Asked why he failed to alert his parents or tenants when he was ordered to look for the diggers, he said “the tenants were busy watching World Cup match and the noise from the home theater in my room was too loud to make them know what was happening even when we were digging the grave in my room.

“The two boys left after burying her and I couldn’t sleep in my room that day and I had to sleep in my brother’s room because I wasn’t myself and I couldn’t tell anyone because no one will believe my story.

“I don’t know the two guys, though they have visited my place thrice with Khadijat I don’t know them or their names. I have been dating Khadijat since 2010, she was my girlfriend but I knew nothing about these guys, she invited them, I don’t know their names but I can recognise them.”

When queried the motive behind the killing, the suspect said: “I did not kill Khadijat for money ritual, though I joined Yahoo business this year and never made any headway I don’t plan to do any ritual”.

But the state Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO) Mr Femi Joseph, described the suspect defence as infantile saying Adeyemi implicated some people while the command has been trying to get those people.

He said, “his defence is very infantile and does not hold any water and I am very sure in the next few hours he should begin to talk”.

Speaking on the suspect arrest, Joseph said the command was alerted by an informant while the police from the state responded and arrested the suspect at his residence.

He said “we met the suspect who happened to be the boyfriend to the late Khadijat, in his room trying to pack the remains in a sack and this is to tell you that he killed Khadijat.

“According to him, he mentioned some other suspects now at large but we found that he single-handedly looked for digger, shovel, dug a grave in his room and buried Khadijat

“The Police immediately swooped on him, and on close observation of his residence, it was discovered that the suspect had actually buried the missing girl for six days and was planning to exhume the remains and finally dispose of them.

“According to him, he was not comfortable with the stench coming from the decomposed body as it was not properly buried.

“The suspect will soon appear in court while the effort is on to arrest the alleged accomplices.

Source: Killer of Oluboyo’s daughter confesses, mentions two accomplices
Nigerian Tribune, July 12, 2018

Also read:

BOYFRIEND OF FORMER-ONDO DEPUTY GOVERNOR’S DAUGHTER, KHADIJAT OLUBOYO, GIVES SHOCKING DETAILS OF HOW SHE WAS KILLED

Published: July 12, 2018
Information Nigeria
Adeyemi Alao, the boyfriend of Khadijat Oluboyo, the late daughter of the former Ondo state deputy governor, has given shocking details of how she was killed.

On Sunday July 8th, Khadijat’s body was found in a grave Adeyemi dug inside his room after he allegedly killed her for ritual purposes.

Adeyemi who made his confession during his parade by the Ondo State Police Command in Akure, the state capital, said two other persons worked with him in killing Khadijat who was until her death a final year student of Adekunle Ajasin University, Akungba Akoko.

Explaining how the young lady was murdered, Adeyemi said,

“Khadijat was my girlfriend since 2010 and she visited me to help her in writing her final project in school. She slept in my place on Thursday and left on Friday the following day. She sent a text message to me on Monday, 2nd July that I should send some money to her. But I was surprised to see her that same Monday when she came with two boys to my room. I left her in my room with the two boys but when they called me some 30 minutes later, one of the guys brought out a gun and ordered me to kneel down while one of them was making love to Khadijat who was naked on my bed. Khadijat was begging them to leave and promising not to tell anyone about what happened but they strangulated her in the process and ordered me to go and bring digger and shovel. I thought they wanted to use that to escape from the scene of the incident but when I entered the room they were still there and ordered me to dig the grave where we buried her in my room and covered it with the rug. ”

Asked why he failed to alert his parents or tenants when he was ordered to look for the diggers, he said:

“The tenants were busy watching World Cup match and the noise from the home theater in my room was too loud to make them know what was happening even when we were digging the grave in my room. The two boys left after burying her and I couldn’t sleep in my room that day and I had to sleep in my brother’s room because I wasn’t myself and I couldn’t tell anyone because no one will believe my story. I don’t know the two guys, though they have visited my place thrice with Khadijat I don’t know them or their names. I have been dating Khadijat since 2010, she was my girlfriend but I knew nothing about these guys, she invited them, I don’t know their names but I can recognize them.”

He denied killing Khadijat

“I did not kill Khadijat for money ritual, though I joined Yahoo business this year and never made any headway I don’t plan to do any ritual”.

Reacting to Adeyemi’s claims, the state Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), Femi Joseph, dismissed it, saying his defence is infantile:

“His defence is very infantile and does not hold any water and I am very sure in the next few hours he should begin to talk”.

On how the suspect was arrested, the police spokesperson said:

“We met the suspect who happened to be the boyfriend to the late Khadijat, in his room trying to pack the remains in a sack and this is to tell you that he killed Khadijat. According to him, he mentioned some other suspects now at large but we found that he single-handedly looked for digger, shovel, dug a grave in his room and buried Khadijat. The Police immediately swooped on him, and on close observation of his residence, it was discovered that the suspect had actually buried the missing girl for six days and was planning to exhume the remains and finally dispose of them. According to him, he was not comfortable with the stench coming from the decomposed body as it was not properly buried. The suspect will soon appear in court while the effort is on to arrest the alleged accomplices”.

Source: Boyfriend of former-Ondo Deputy Governor’s daughter, Khadijah Oluboyo, gives shocking details of how she was killed
Information Nigeria, July 12, 2018

Also read:

I leave the killer of my daughter to God’s judgement – Oluboyo

Published: July 11 or 12, 2018
By Hakeem Gbadamosi, Akure

Former Deputy Governor of Ondo State, Alhaji Lasisi Oluboyo

MORE facts emerged on Monday, on the killing of Khadijat, the daughter of the immediate past Deputy Governor of Ondo State, Alhaji Lasisi Oluboyo, who was killed by her boyfriend for an alleged money ritual.

Speaking with Nigerian Tribune at his residence in Monday, Oluboyo said his daughter was killed for ritual purposes and maintained that the young lady was charmed and hypnotized, saying her daughter could not have gone to the suspect house on her own volition.

The former Deputy Governor while reacting to the death of Khadijat however, said he has decided not to go to court over the killing of his daughter, saying, “to me, I don’t want anything, God’s judgment is more than all the human’s verdict.”

It was discovered that the suspects, Adeyemi Alao, killed the young Khadijat and dug a grave in his room where he buried her and covered it with a mattress for six days before he was arrested.

According to him, the family got to know that the final year student of Adekunle Ajasin University, Akungba Akoko, Ondo State, was missing last Monday and while all efforts to find proved abortive, they resorted to prayers.

He said “We got to know that Khadijat was missing on Monday 2nd July 2018 when one of her friends called us from school that she was missing and we started looking at her.

“I sent money for her feeding on Friday, the usual thing is that when she got bank alert, she would call me back to thank me. But this day, I did not get a response from her. I told her mother and she started calling her but her phones were switched off.

“We got in touch with her closest friends in the school, who told us that they finished lecture on Thursday evening and took the same motorcycle to their houses, but said they have no lecture on Friday. She said she was surprised not to see Khadijat at the lecture room on Monday and started calling her numbers.

“We started calling her number and it did not get through. Later the phone rang, someone picked it and we were hearing the underground sound. The phone was later switched off again.

“Later we got a text that the mouthpiece of the phone is not good and that she would call when she changed the sim card to another phone. With that, we thought that everything was settled. We were waiting anxiously for the call.”

Oluboyo said the same message was sent to Khadijat’s friend but said he got to know that her daughter came to Akure to meet the boy and from what the father of the boy told him, “there is no doubt that they were once boy and girlfriends. They met each other at Adeyemi College of Education, Ondo.

“When we started looking for the girl, the father called me, he said he is the father of Adeyemi, and my daughter came to their house on Thursday and left on Friday morning and confirmed that my daughter used to come in the past but stopped suddenly.”

Oluboyo explained further that the family received a call from unknown men who claimed to have kidnapped the young lady and promised to get across to the family, saying the suspects were using diversionary tactics to buy time.

He said when the family was waiting for the next instruction from the kidnappers they tracked Khadijat numbers saying “my daughter has four numbers and two handsets. The old number she was using was kept in her bag.

“What happened was that when we tracked the first number, it went off immediately after roadblock at Owo. The second number went off after Oba-Akoko. That gave us the impression that she was travelling and kidnapped when she was going back to school.

“We got it on good authority that she came to Akure. When they sent a message that we should wait for the negotiation team, we discovered it was one of the numbers in her bag that they used to send the message to us. It was a perfect arrangement to buy time”.

He, however, said the family resorted to prayers which yielded results, saying “when we tried our best, we organized prayers and when we finished with the prayers, he got the heat and said he cannot continue with the ritual.

“He rushed out of his room to confess to his immediate sister who narrated the story to their father and called the police. My daughter was not found under the bed, the boy has no bed. The boy dug a grave in his room, and put his foam on the grave and was sleeping on the grave.

“The boy killed her for ritual purposes. It is not that the girl was not well-fed. I am sure my daughter did not go to the boy’s house on her own volition.”

The state Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO) Mr Femi Joseph, confirmed the arrest of the suspect, Adeyemi Alao but said the State Commissioner of Police, Mr Gbenga Adeyanju, would address the public on the incident after the completion of investigations.

Source: I leave the killer of my daughter to God’s judgement – Oluboyo
Nigerian Tribune, July 11 or 12, 2018

Also read:

Ghost of ex Deputy Gov’s daughter shows way to killer

Published: July 11, 2018
By Jude Egbas

Before her passing, Khadijat was studying in the department of Educational Management at the Adekunle Ajasin University.

The ghost of the daughter of a former deputy governor of Ondo State, reportedly led the way to her killer.

The ghost of Khadijat Oluboyo, slain daughter of a former Deputy Governor of Ondo State, Alhaji Lasisi Olugbenga Oluboyo, is reportedly stalking the land, according to a Vanguard report.

Khadijat Oluboyo was found dead underneath her boyfriend’s bed on Sunday, July 8, 2018 at the Oke Aro extension, Azure, Ondo area.

The name of her boyfriend has been given as Adeyemi Alao.

Reports allege that she was murdered for ritual purposes.

Alao is now a suspect who has been taken into police custody.

Ghost and other tales

Vanguard reports however, that it was Khadijat’s ghost that alerted authorities and the family to her decomposing body underneath the bed.

Vanguard quotes a neighbor as saying that it was the ghost of Khadijat that appeared to Mutiu; the younger brother of Adeyemi, in their father’s house.

The ghost subsequently led Mutiu to Adeyemi’s room where the suspect was frantically trying to conceal the corpse.

The suspect was said to be residing at the boys’ quarter in his father’s compound at the time of the murder.

Reports say he was trying to evacuate Khadijat’s decomposing corpse from under his bed when his brother, Mutiu, found him out.

Vanguard quotes the neighbor as saying ”it was when the ghost appeared to Mutiu that he went to his brother’s room and discovered that he was trying to evacuate the decomposing body from his room”.

The late Khadijat has been described as a reserved person who rarely spoke with neighbours.

Khadijat was a final year student of the Adekunle Ajasin University, Akungba Akoko.

Tenants flee

Adeyemi’s father, Adekunle Alao was arrested after the decomposing corpse was found, but he has since been released after being exonerated by Mr. Oluboyo, reports say.

Vanguard reports that tenants and several landlords in the neighbourhood of the Alaos, have gone into hiding.

Vanguard quotes a source as saying that tenants of Adekunle Alao, many landlords and the mother of Adeyemi who is simply referred to as Alhaja, “have bolted for fear of arrest by the police since the strange discovery in the area”.

Adeyemi had just completed the mandatory NYSC scheme and had reportedly been dating Khadijat for some time.

Former Deputy Governor Oluboyo has asked the police to ensure that the murderer(s) of his daughter are made to face the full wrath of the law.

Killing for ritual and get-rich-quick purposes are commonplace in Nigeria, Africa’s most populous country. Frequent tales abound of persons being caught with severed body parts like skulls,hands, legs and tongues, across the country.

Source: Ghost of ex Deputy Gov’s daughter shows way to killer
Pulse Nigeria, July 11, 2018

Also read:

Police parade Ex-Ondo Deputy Governor Daughter’s killer

Published: July 11, 2018
By: Damisi Ojo, Akure

Suspected killer of Khadijat Adenike Oluboyo, daughter of former Deputy Governor of Ondo State, Alhaji Lasisi Oluboyo, Adeyemi Alao Wednesday said he slept with the corpse of khadijat for six days in his room.

Alao affirmed that late khadijat’s was her lover of over five years.

However, he said he had no intention of killing her when he invited her to his residence at Oke-Aro, Akure until he met her making love with another person in his room.

The suspected killer was paraded Wednesday at the state police headquarters, Akure, the state capital.

He confessed that he dug a grave inside his room in an attempt to bury Khadijat before he was arrested by the Police.

Alao was arrested by the Police last Sunday after the discovery of the corpse of Khadijat, a final year student of Adekunle Ajasin University, Akungba-Akoko.

Late Khadijat, 20, had earlier been declared missing by her parent when she could not be found by her friends in the campus and her parents at home.

The suspect on interrogation confirmed the killing of the deceased.

He however denied responsibility for her death, stressing that he met her dead inside his room.

He accused the late University final student of being notorious for sex.

According to Alao, Late Khadijat could have sexual intercourse with any individual not minding the status or age of the fellow.

He said “she called me that she was in Lagos and I asked what she was doing in Lagos, the response she gave was that she was there to perfect the project she was writing.

“She told me she would come to visit me after leaving Lagos and she came but the following day she went out and returned with two boys who claimed were his brothers.

“I went out one day and when I returned I saw one of the boys she called her friend making love with her. I was furious and I beat her to pulp. The boy escaped because he threatened to shoot me with a gun in his hand.”

Alao denied rumours that he killed Khadijat for ritual purpose.

He confessed that he made arrangements to bury her inside the room, having dug a grave but was eventually caught.

The state commissioner of Police, Gbenga Adeyanju assured that the suspected killer would face the full wrath of the law.

He said the suspect will soon be prosecuted, assuring that his other accomplices would be arrested and also face justice.

Source: Police parade Ex-Ondo Deputy Governor Daughter’s killer
The Nation, July 11, 2018

Also read:

Police arrest suspected killer of Ex-Ondo Deputy Governor’s daughter

Published: July 9, 2018
By Damisi Ojo, Akure
Ondo State Police command has arrested Adeyemi Alao suspected to be the killer of the daughter of former Deputy Governor of the state, Miss Khadijat Oluboyo.

Khadijat, daughter of Lasisi Oluboyo who was also a one-time Commissioner in Ex-Governor Olusegun Mimiko’s Cabinet was found dead in Alao’s residence on Sunday.

Sources said the deceased had died almost six days before her corpse was discovered inside her boyfriend’s room.

The suspect was said to be staying permanently in Abuja.

It was learnt that Alao had made attempts to bury Khadijat’s corpse in his house at Oke-Aro area of Akure.

According to a source, he had dug a grave in the room, before nemesis caught up with him.

Khadijat, a-20 year old final year student of the Adekunle Ajasin University, Akungba-Akoko was said to be fond of visiting her ex-lover each time he came to Akure from Abuja and usually passed the night with him.

There were speculations that the suspected killer was a “yahoo boy” who planned to use her late girlfriend for rituals Police spokesman, Femi Joseph, a Superintendent of Police(SP) said the suspect was arrested by a team of detectives from the State Criminal Investigations Department (CID).

He said the suspect, who was already in police custody has been cooperating with the police on relevant information on the circumstances that led to the death of Khadijat.

Joseph said the Commissioner of Police will address the press after they conclude their investigations on the matter.

He assured that the case would be thoroughly investigated with a view to establishing facts behind the death of the Ikare-Akoko born University final year student.

The PPRO said the suspect and others who might have involved in the death of Khadijat would be prosecuted.

Source: Police arrest suspected killer of Ex-Ondo Deputy Governor’s daughter
The Nation, July 9, 2018

Also read:

“My daughter was used for ritual” Ondo ex-deputy governor, Lasisi Oluboyo says

Published: 10/07/2018 6:44 AM
By Linda Ikeji
A former deputy governor of Ondo State, Lasisi Oluboyo, whose daughter, Khadijat, was found in the room of her boyfriend, Adeyemi Alao, on Sunday July 8th, has accused the suspect of killing his daughter for ritual purposes.

Khadijat, a student at the Adekunle Ajasin University, Akungba Akoko, Ondo State, was found dead in Alao’s room.

Reacting to the unfortunate incident, the distraught father who spoke to newsmen yesterday, said his daughter was killed for ritual purposes and maintained that the young lady was charmed and hypnotized, adding that Khadijat could not have gone to Alao’s house on her own volition.

“Somebody called us that she was missing on Monday, July 2, 2018, and we got in touch with her friends in the school. I had sent her money on previous Friday; the usual thing is that when she got bank alert, she would call me back to thank me. But I did not get any response from her that day. On Monday, we called her number and we did not get through. We got a text that the phone was not good and that she would call back.”

Lasisi said his family later organised a special prayer which made the suspect to confess to his sister that he killed Khadijat and used her for ritual purposes.

The former Deputy Governor said he has decided not to go to court over the killing of his daughter, saying, “to me, I don’t want anything, God’s judgment is more than all the human’s verdict.”

Source: “My daughter was used for money ritual” – Ondo ex-deputy governor Lasisi Oluboyo says, Welcome to Linda Ikeji’s blog, by Linda Ikeji at 10/07/2018 6:44 AM

Also read:

Ex-Ondo Deputy Gov Speaks on Daughter’s Alleged Ritual Killing

Published: July 9 or 10, 2018
By John Ogunsemore
The Herald NigeriaImmediate-past Deputy Governor of Ondo State, Alhaji Lasisi Oluboyo has explained the circumstances surrounding how the decomposing body of his daughter, Khadijat Adenike was found in a shallow ground of her boyfriend, Adeyemi Alao.

He made the revelation in an interview with New Telegraph.

Khadijat, a student of Adekunle Ajasin University, Akungba-Akoko was said to have gone to the home of Alao, her boyfriend, in the Oke-Aro area of the state capital Akure but did not return.

Oluboyo said, “We got to know that Khadijat was missing on Monday, July 2. Somebody called us that she was missing, we started looking for her. We got in touch with her friends in the school.

“The closest friend told us that they finished the lecture on Thursday. They took the same motorcycle to their houses. On Friday, they had no lecture, when the friend got to the lecture room on Monday and did not see her, she started calling her phone numbers.

“I sent the money for her feeding on Friday, the usual thing is that when she got bank alert, she would call me back to thank me. But this day, I did not get a response from her. I told her mother and she started calling her.

“The phones were switched off.

“But on Monday, we started calling her number but did not get through. Later the phone rang, someone picked it and we were hearing an underground sound. The phones were switched off again. Later we got a text that the mouthpiece of the phone is not good and that she would call when she changed the sim card to another phone. With that, we thought that everything was settled. We were waiting anxiously for the call.”

He added, “Sincerely, it was last Monday that we noticed she was not around. Her friend now called and said she had been calling her numbers. The same person sent a message to that her friend that she was on her way coming. It was then I got to know that she came to Akure to meet that boy. From what the (Alao’s) father told us, there is no doubt that they were once boyfriend and girlfriend.

“They met each other at the College of Education, Ondo.

“When we started looking for the girl, the father called me, he said he is the father of Adeyemi, he said my daughter came to their house on Thursday and left on Friday morning. He said she used to come in the past but stopped suddenly that she is the type he would want his son to marry. I said we were not talking of marriage and that we were looking for her.

“The man called and started praying. When we called, the boy said she came on Thursday and left on Friday.

“My daughter has four numbers. She had two handsets, one with two sim cards, and one with one sim. The old number she was using was kept in her bag. What happened was that when we tracked the first number, it went off immediately after roadblock at Owo.

The second number went off after Oba-Akoko. That gave us the impression that she was travelling and that she was going back to school.

“We got it on good authority that she came to Akure. That gave us the impression that she was going back. When they sent a message that we should wait for the negotiation team, we discovered it was one of the numbers in her bag that they used to send the message to us. It was a perfect arrangement to buy time.”

He explained that, “The boy killed her for ritual purposes. It is not that the girl was not well-fed. The lady did not go there on her own volition.

“The boy dug a grave in his room, buried her and put his foam on the grave and was sleeping on the grave. She was not found under the bed, the boy has no bed.”

On how the deceased’s decomposing body was found, he said, “we organised prayers.
“When we finished with the prayers, he got the hint and said he cannot continue. He rushed out and confessed to his immediate sister. He said this is what I did; I cannot cope, go and help me bring a sack.
The sister rushed to the father and narrated the story.”

While saying he had left everything to God, Oluboyo said, “God’s judgement is more than the entire humans’ verdict. The danger is that if you allow him to go scot-free, he would do it again.”

Source: Ex-Ondo Deputy Gov Speaks On Daughter’s Alleged Ritual Killing
The Herald Nigeria, July 9 or 10, 2018

Ondo State – Nigeria

Nigeria: Former Ondo Deputy governor’s daughter found dead – in what is suspected to be a money ritual

Khadijat Oluboyo, murdered in what is suspected to be a money ritual attempt by her boyfriend Adeyemi Alao popularly known as QS.

Published: July 8 or 9, 2018
By Hakeem Gbadamosi – Akure
Nigerian Tribune Online

Former Ondo deputy governor’s daughter found dead in boyfriend‘s room

Tragedy struck in the household of the immediate past Deputy Governor of Ondo state, Alhaji Lasisi Oluboyo, as his daughter Khadijat, was found dead in the house of her boyfriend, Adeyemi Alao, in Akure, Ondo state capital.

Khadijat decomposing remains were found under the bed of her boyfriend after six days in Akure. The young lady who has been declared missing for the past six days at the school, was found under the bed of her boyfriend in what was suspected to be a money ritual attempt by the boyfriend Adeyemi Alao popularly known as QS.

It was gathered that, Khadijat an undergraduate of Adekunle Ajasin University, Akungba Akoko, left her school some seven days ago to see her boyfriend in Akure, only to discover that she has been used for money ritual by Alao.

The source explained that Alao who based in Abuja and Khadijat had been dating him since their secondary school days but met recently and rekindle their love affairs.

She however alleged that late Khadijat was killed by Alao who kept her corpse under his bed for six days as instructed by a native doctor.

She said luck ran against Alao on the sixth day when the body of the daughter of the former deputy governor was discovered by Alao’s younger brother.

She said “the ghost of the lady appeared to Alao’s brother who reported the case to the security operatives in the state. The boy had to report because he could not keep the secret to himself.”

A family source however confirmed that Khadijat was used for money ritual saying the herbalist that prepared the money ritual for Alao is currently at large.

He said the herbalist instructed Alao to keep the corpse for seven days but luck ran out of the Abuja-based boyfriend when his younger brother met the decomposing body of Oluboyo’s daughter in mysterious manner and reported the incident to the police in Akure.

Confirming the incident, the Ondo State Police Public Relations Officer, (PPRO) Mr Femi Joseph, said the command has begun investigation into the matter.

Joseph said the command’s officers discovered the dead body of the undergraduate at a house at Oke-Aro area of Akure following a tip-off.

The Police image maker disclosed that some arrest had been made in connection with the death of the former deputy governor’s daughter, but said the State Commissioner of Police, Mr Gbenga Adeyanju, would address brief the public on the incident after the completion of investigations.

Source: Former Ondo Deputy governor’s daughter found dead in boyfriend’s room 
Nigerian Tribune, July 9, 2018

Another article covering the same crime:

Ex-Ondo deputy gov’s daughter found dead in boyfriend’s house

Published: July 9, 2018
By 
New Telegraph

The victim, Adenike Khadijat, and the suspected murderer, her boy-friend Adeyemi Alao.

Daughter of the immediate past Deputy Governor of Ondo State, Alhaji Lasisi Oluboyo, has been found dead in the house of her boyfriend at Oke-Aro area of Akure, the state capital. The lady, Adenike Khadijat, a final year student of the state-owned Adekunle Ajasin University, Akungba-Akoko (AAUA), was Oluboyo’s first child. Oluboyo is a native of Ikare- Akoko in Akoko North- East Local Government Area of the state. Khadijat is one of the victims of incessant kidnapping, ritual killing and other violent crimes in the Akoko area of the Ondo North Senatorial District.

The violent crimes had made the traditional chiefs under the auspices of Concerned Akoko Traditional Chiefs to call on government to protect not only the lives of the citizens but the traditional institutions in the area.

In recent time, the Oniyani of Iyani-Akoko and his chiefs; the Regent of Akungba Akoko; former Speaker of the state House of Assembly, Victor Olabimtan; Mrs. Ogunmilade, wife of the former Chairman of Akoko North- West Local Government; wife of Oba Agunloye, the Alauga of Auga Akoko and her driver were kidnapped in the axis. A family source said the body of Khadijat, who was declared missing six days ago in the school, was found under the bed of her Abujabased boyfriend, Adeyemi Alao popularly known as QS, said to be at large. The source claimed the family suspected Khadijat was murdered for money ritual.

The family source said Alao’s younger brother saw the decomposing body of Oluboyo’s daughter in a mysterious manner and later reported the incident to the police in Akure.

The state Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), Mr. Femi Joseph, said policemen discovered the body of the undergraduate at a house at Oke-Aro area of Akure, following a tip-off. The PPRO disclosed that some arrests had been made in connection with the death of the former deputy governor’s daughter.

However, he said a full briefing would be done by the Commissioner of Police, Mr. Gbenga Adeyanju, on the incident after the completion of investigations. Meanwhile, the Association of Concerned Akoko Traditional Chiefs has called on all Akoko Obas to rise up and protest to President Muhammadu Buhari and express their displeasure on the humiliation meted on traditional rulers as targets of kidnapping.

The traditional chiefs, including Olu Ogunsusi, Adejoro Olamomiara and Samuel Ayodele Ojo, called on the National Assembly members including the senator representing Ondo North Senatorial District to table the insecurity situation in Akoko land before the National Assembly as a matter of “urgent attention”.

Source:
Ex-Ondo deputy gov’s daughter found dead in boyfriend’s house
New Telegraph, July 9, 2018

And:

Ondo ex-deputy governor’s daughter found dead

Published: July 9, 2018

Khadijat, the daughter of the immediate past Deputy Governor of Ondo State, Alhaji Lasisi Oluboyo, has been reportedly found dead in the house of her boyfriend, Adeyemi Alao, in Akure, the state capital.

Her decomposing remains were reportedly found under Alao’s bed after six days of search for the 20-year-girl.

Khadijat was declared missing at her school, Adekunle Ajasin University (AAU), Akungba Akoko.

She was found under the bed of her boyfriend in what was suspected to be a strange circumstance.

Sources said she left her school seven days ago to see Alao, who allegedly used her for money ritual.

It was learnt that Alao is based in Abuja.

Khadijat is said to have been dating him since their secondary school days. The tow lover reportedly met recently and rekindled their love affairs.

Alao allegedly kept her body under his bed for six days to follow the instruction of a native doctor.

Nemesis was said to have caught up with Alao on the sixth day when the remains of Khadijat was discovered by his younger brother.

A family source said Khadijat was allegedly used for money ritual, adding that the herbalist who allegedly prepared the ritual for Alao had fled.

He said the herbalist instructed Alao to keep the body for seven days, but luck ran out on him when his younger brother met the decomposing body of Oluboyo’s daughter in a mysterious manner and reported the incident to the police in Akure.

Police spokesman Femi Joseph, a Superintendent of Police (SP), said the command had launched investigation into the matter.

Joseph said the command’s officers discovered the body of the undergraduate at a house in Oke-Aro area of Akure, following a tip-off.

The spokesman added that some arrest had been made in connection with the death.

He said Police Commissioner Gbenga Adeyanju would brief the media on the incident after the completion of investigation.

Source: Ondo Ex-deputy governor’s daughter found dead
The Nation, July 9, 2018