We Killed Couple, Son, for not Increasing My Salary, Says Suspect

James  Sowole in Abeokuta

Lekan Adekanbi, the prime suspect in the gruesome murder of the late Abeokuta couple, Kehinde Fatinoye, his wife Bukola and their son in Abeokuta, Ogun State, has confessed that he masterminded the dastardly act because they refused to increase his salary.

Kehinde was a deputy director with the Central Bank of Nigeria, while his wife, Bukola, was a staff of the Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta. 

After killing the couple, the assailants burnt their remains and house, located within the Ibara Government Reservation Area, Abeokuta.

Adekanbi confessed that he organised a robbery in the early hours of January 1, 2023, which later resulted in the murder of the couple and their son, in order to forcefully get money from them after they refused to increase his salary and grant him a loan.

The prime suspect, who had been the couple’s driver since 2010 explained that he invited two others, Ahmed Odetola, a.k.a Akamo, and Waheed Adeniyi, a.k.a Koffi, to join him to rob the couple.

Adekanbi, revealed what transpired during an interview with journalists, after he was paraded at the state police command, Eleweran, Abeokuta.

He said, “I took the step because the couple refused to increase my salary, and when I approached them for a loan to buy a motorcycle, they didn’t oblige.

“The three of us waited for the couple until they came back from crossover service. We pounced on them immediately after they entered the house.”

He added that they had access to the house despite an alsatian dog at the gate because the dog is familiar with him being the person who always fed it.

Speaking further, he said, having gotten hold of the couple, they forced the husband, Kehinde Fatinoye to transfer money from his account to the “Kuda” Bank account of Ahmed Odetola, but the transfer failed.

“Since that failed, I gave the deceased my Access Bank account to which the sum of N1,102,000 was transferred, at gunpoint.

“When I realised that my identity had been known through my bank account, I decided with others to terminate the lives of the couple. That was when Waheed Adeniyi, a.k.a Koffi, took a knife from their kitchen and slaughtered the husband Kehinde Fatinoye, while I used sledge hammer to hit the wife Bukola Fatinoye on the head and she died on the spot.”

Adekanbi noted that while the operation was going on, the only surviving son of the deceased, Oreoluwa Fatinoye, and their adopted son, Felix Olorunyomi walked in, they attacked them and tied their hands with rope and drove them to Ogun River Bridge at Adigbe where they threw the two of them into the river. The adopted son later escaped from the river.

While parading the suspect, the Police Public Relations Officer, Abimbola Oyeyemi said the suspects were all arrested following painstaking intelligence based investigation embarked upon by men of the Command, as a result of the gruesome murder of the couple and their only son Oreoluwa Fatinoye.

Oyeyemi said, “In the course of investigation, Lekan Adekanbi, a driver to the deceased family, was arrested based on circumstantial evidence, while investigation continues.

“The suspect, Lekan Adekanbi suddenly collapsed in the cell on the 2nd of January 2023, and he was rushed to the hospital for medical care.

“But while in the hospital receiving treatment, he suddenly jumped from the bed and escaped through the fence of the hospital.

“His escape further confirmed the police suspicion of his involvement in the crime. The Commissioner of Police ordered the State anti-kidnapping unit to join forces with the homicide unit in order to get the escaped driver and his accomplices arrested.

“The two teams, in compliance with the CP’s directive, embarked on a technical and intelligence-driven investigation and traced the movement of the suspect to his elder brother in Iseyin, Oyo State, but he had left the place before the arrival of the police.

“The teams further intensified their efforts which yielded positive results, when Lekan Adekanbi was apprehended in his hideout somewhere in Abeokuta on the 21st of January 2023.

“Waheed Adeniyi, a.k.a Koffi, and Ahmed Odetola, a.k.a Akamo, were both apprehended at Ogere on Thursday 9th of February, 2023.

“The three suspects, who are members of Aiye confraternity, have all confessed to their various roles in the gruesome and callous murder of the family.”