A 38-year-old man, Peter Samuel, has confessed to the gruesome murder of an Okada rider, Rafiu Akao, in Oke-Oyi town, Ilorin East Local Government Area of Kwara State.
The incident, which occurred on November 4, 2024, in the Asunlere area of the town, was aimed at stealing the victim’s new motorcycle.Speaking to journalists after being paraded alongside four other suspects by the Kwara State Police Commissioner, Victor Olaiya, on Wednesday, Samuel admitted to using a cutlass to decapitate the victim. He revealed that he was coerced into committing the act by an accomplice known only as ‘Oga,’ who promised him and the other suspects a large financial gain from the stolen motorcycle.”I used a cutlass to cut the head of the Okada rider,” Samuel confessed. “I was lured into the crime by ‘Oga,’ who told me it would fetch us big money.”The other four suspects paraded alongside Samuel include Jeremiah Tiozinda (26), Sunday Agbenke (40), Yusuf Abdulkareem (22), and Jaiyeola Fatai (40). Among the items recovered from the suspects were an Itel Android phone and the deceased’s motorcycle.The Kwara State Police Commissioner, Victor Olaiya, detailed the events that led to the arrest of the suspects. He said, “On November 4, 2024, at about 9:09 PM, a report was received from residents of Asunlere community, Oke-Oyi, Ilorin, that a headless body had been discovered near a stream. Three individuals, Abdulrasheed Ola Sheu, Ismail Muhammed, and others, reported the incident to the Oke-Oyi Police Division.”Detectives were immediately dispatched to the scene, where they discovered a body with a significant mark of violence around the neck, indicating that the head had been severed. The body was later evacuated and taken to the University of Ilorin Teaching Hospital morgue for an autopsy.At the crime scene, an Itel Android phone believed to belong to one of the assailants was recovered, along with a motorcycle identified as the deceased’s property. The deceased’s phone was also found in his possession.The police intensified efforts to track down the perpetrators, leading to the arrest of two suspects, Peter Samuel and Jeremiah Tiozinda, in separate locations on November 6, 2024. Both suspects confessed to the crime during interrogation, and Samuel’s phone was confirmed to be the one recovered at the crime scene. The suspects also revealed that they disposed of the victim’s severed head in a nearby river.The case has been transferred to the State Criminal Investigation Department (SCID) for further investigation. Commissioner Olaiya assured the public that the suspects would be arraigned in court as investigations continue.
