Monday Elela, the father of 14-year-old boy, Tope Elela, who was allegedly killed and buried, has said he killed and buried the boy for always engaging in housebreaking, stealing, and other criminal activities.
Mr Elela who lives in Ajowa Akoko in Akoko Northwest Local Government Area of Ondo State, said out of the seven children, said the deceased was the blackship of the family.
Elela and his wife were alleged to have killed the boy and were subsequently arrested by police.
Speaking with journalists when being paraded by the Commissioner of Police, Mr Wilfred Olutokunbo Afolabi, at the police headquarters in Akure, the Ondo State capital, Elela disclosed that he buried the boy in a shallow grave under a banana tree behind his house in Ajowa-Akoko after he gave up the ghost.
According to him, ” I did not know that the boy would die when i beat him in the night after he escaped from the custody of the State Security Network codename Amotekun.”
While saying that whenever they arrest the boy after stealing or engaging in other criminal activities, he noted that he usually handed him over to Amotekun or vigilante group for punishment.
Elela, however noted that his wife took to heels alongside other children when he got to know about his arrest.
His words:”The deceased had escaped from Amotekun’s detention and was embarrassing the family as a result of criminal activities he engaged in. When he came back we beat him and went to sleep . The following morning, his siblings discovered that his dead and I decided to bury him under a banana tree.”
Elela was alongside 24 other suspects by the Commissioner of Police, Wilfred Olutokunbo Afolabi, for various crimes, including murder, cultism, and breaking and stealing.
The Commissioner of Police also paraded those who took part in cult clashes that left five people dead in Owo in Owo local government area of the state.
According to the Police Boss, ‘one Olamide Ogunseyila, ‘M’ age 28 confessed to being a member of a cult group, Gbenga Bisi, ‘F’ age 25 years wife of Steven Dada, also known as “Ogodo,” who is currently on the run was apprehended alongside Gbenga Esther, ‘F’, age 20 years at a hideout where the Police found a double-barrel, cut-to-size gun, two expended cartridges, and additional ammunition.’
Other, he said, included Ijarotimi Taye, ‘M’ aged 61 years, in which the Police discovered physical injuries around his body and could not give a satisfactory account of how he got the injuries, raising suspicions about his involvement.
Afolabi said, “In the early hours of today, the duo of Bero Adeola ‘M’, age 30 years, and Olabode Ojo ‘M’, age 30 years (A.k.A Paw paw), who claimed his brother’s wife and child were killed in the melee were arrested in their hideout in Akure. They both confessed to being cultists belonging to the Ave group and claimed it was the Eiye and Aiye groups that were fighting.
“The Suspects claimed they left Owo because of the fight because they did not want to be part of it.
Ijalade Olorunfemi, ‘m’, aged 42 years, and Ayodele Olayemi, ’m’, aged 20 years. Both have been implicated as cultists through ongoing investigations.
‘The remaining suspects are currently undergoing thorough interrogation to ascertain their roles in the crisis while the command is intensifying efforts to apprehend Steven Dada (alias “Ogodo”) and any other individual connected to these criminal activities.”
