Lekan Adekanbi, a.k.a Koroba, who is the leader of the three suspects arrested by operatives of Ogun State Police Command for their active involvement in the gruesome murder of the Fatinoye couple, Kehinde and Bukola Fatinoye, and their only son, Oreoluwa Fatinoye, has confessed that he committed the act because the couple did not increase his salary.
Adekanbi, who was a driver to the couple and had worked with them for four years before he committed the act, also said he was unhappy when the couple also refused to grant him loan to purchase a motorcycle.
The two other suspects who conspired with Adekanbi and killed the Fatinoyes were identified as Ahmed Odetola a.k.a Akamo and Waheed Adeniji a.k.a Koffi.
The Police Public Relations Officer in the police command, SP Abimbola Oyeyemi, who confirmed this on Friday, February 10, 2023, said that the suspects were arrested after a painstaking and intelligence-based investigation embarked upon by men of the Command.
It will be recalled that the couple were killed in the most gruesome manner after they just returned from crossover service to usher in a new year in the early hours of Sunday, January 1.
After snuffing life out of them, the murderers also set their corpses ablaze in order to cover their tracks.
According to the PPRO, “upon the report of the dastardly act, the Commissioner of Police directed the Homicide section of the State Criminal Investigation Department to take over the case and ensure that the culprits are brought to justice.
“In the course of investigation, one Lekan Adekanbi, a driver to the deceased family, was arrested based on circumstantial evidence, while investigation continued.
“The arrested suspect ,Lekan Adekanbi, suddenly collapsed in the cell on the 2nd of January 2023, and 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 case.
“There and then, 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 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.
“On interrogation, Lekan Adekanbi, who has been the couple’s driver since 2018, confessed to being the mastermind of the dastardly act. He stated that he invited the other two suspects, Ahmed Odetola a.k.a Akamo and Waheed Adeniyi a.k.a Koffi, to join him, in order to rob the couple.
“He confessed further that he took the step because the couple refused to increase his salary, and that he approached them for loan to buy motorcycle, but they didn’t oblige him.
“He stated further that on the fateful day, he and his two accomplices waited for the couple to come back from crossover service since he had access to the house. They pounced on the couple immediately they entered the house.”
When asked why the Alsatian dog in the house did not attack them, Adekanbi told the police that the dog was very familiar with him, as he was the one who always fed him.
“Having got hold of the couple, they forced the husband, Kehinde Fatinoye to transfer money from his account to Kuda Bank account of Ahmed Odetola, but the transfer failed. It was then that Lekan Adekanbi gave the deceased his own Access Bank account, into which the sum of N1,102,000 (One million one hundred and two thousand naira) was transferred at gunpoint.
“Since Lekan realized that his identity has been known through his bank account, he decided with others to terminate the life of the couple, consequent upon which Waheed Adeniyi a.k.a Koffi took a knife from their kitchen and slaughtered the husband, Kehinde Fatinoye, while Lekan Adekanbi used sledge hammer he purposely brought for the operation to hit the wife Bukola Fatinoye on the head and she died on the spot.
“While the operation was going on, the only son of the deceased, Oreoluwa Fatinoye and their adopted son, Felix Olorunyomi walked in and the hoodlums pounced on them too, tied them with rope and drove them to Ogun River Bridge at Adigbe where they threw the two of them into the river.
Luck however smiled at Felix Olorunyomi when the rope on his hand loosened and he was able to swim out of the river. But Oreoluwa was not that lucky as his dead body was recovered the following day.”
SP Oyeyemi, who disclosed that the other suspects were both apprehended at Ogere on Thursday February 9, added that all those involved in the murder are members of Aye Confraternity and had confessed to their various roles in the crime.
He stated further that the state Commissioner of police, Frank Mba, has ordered the suspects to be charged to court as soon as possible.
