
His
countenance was a telltale that he was under an intense emotional pain.
His eyes were bloodshot, evidence that he had struggled with sleep for
almost four days without success, despite being sedated.
Occasionally, he looked up as he sat on a praying mat in his modest
sitting room to acknowledge greetings from neighbours and friends who
had converged there to commiserate with him on the death of his
22-year-old son, Adebisi.
That was the pathetic scenario on Tuesday at the home of Prince
Adedeji Oriade-Oyede, a one storey-building located at Oju-Ore in Ota,
Ado Odo/Ota Local Government Area of Ogun State, when our correspondent
went there to interview him on the incident.
His son, Adebisi, who was a 300-Level Computer Science undergraduate
of the Olabisi Onabanjo University, Ago Iwoye, was allegedly murdered
alongside his girlfriend, Julia Imaga, on May 28, 2018, at Oru-Awa Ijebu
axis by an alleged member of Aiye cult group, Babatunde Muritala and
two other accomplices.
The two accomplices were Owolabi Razak popularly known as ‘Iku’ and
one Sodiq, who is still on the run. Getting him to talk about the
gruesome manner his son was murdered was quite difficult. He appeared to
have relapsed into an emotional trauma, just like someone reliving a
horrible encounter from a nightmare.
After asking our correspondent to sit on the vacant seat beside one
of the sympathisers, he began, “Adebisi would have been 22 years old on
November 27, 2018, but for those wicked people, led by Babatunde
Muritala who cut his life and destiny short.
“He was born on November 27, 1996. He was such a quiet and easy going
boy who abhorred any form of trouble. I never heard that he ever fought
with anybody.
“He was the second child among the three children their mother, Maria, had for me.”
Adebisi, according to the Ogun State Commissioner of Police, Ahmed
Iliyasu, must have been killed on Monday May 28, 2018 by his assailants.
He said this while parading the suspects alongside 22 others arrested
for various offences ranging from armed robbery, cultism to stealing and
rape.
They were paraded on Friday, June 22 at the command’s headquarters at Eleweran, Abeokuta.
He had said Adebisi’s elder brother, Adeola, had on June 3, 2018,
reported to the police that he(Adebisi) had left home since May 28, 2018
with his girlfriend in his car, Honda Crosstour with number plate FST
350 FA, but had yet to return.
Upon receiving the complaint, the men of the Inspector-General of
Police’s Intelligence Response Team together with men of the state
police command swung into action.
Through technical intelligence, Muritala and Razak were nabbed and
evidence such as Adebisi’s iPhone x and two pairs of sneakers also
belonging to him were recovered from them.

Iliyasu added that on interrogation, the suspects confessed that they killed Adebisi and his girlfriend.
He said, “They said they lured the victims to a junction at Oru
Ijebu, where they were forcefully taken to a nearby bus and they smashed
their heads with planks and gun.”
While speaking with journalists, Muritala confirmed that he belonged
to Aiye cult group and that he and two other accomplices killed the
victims.
He alleged that he and the late Adebisi had a dealing relating to an internet fraud in which over N2m was involved.
He further claimed that Adebisi, despite many calls and entreaties, refused to give him his own share.
He said, “He refused to pick my calls and I stopped calling him. And
on May 28, 2018, I got two other guys to join me and we abducted Adebisi
and his girlfriend.
“Moreover, since he belonged to Alora cult group, he and members of
his group were threatening me, so we later killed him and his girlfriend
by using planks.”
When asked why they killed Adebisi’s girlfriend, he replied, “It was just to cover our track.”
However, late Adebisi’s elder brother, father and mother, debunked
the allegations made by the assailant that he (Adebisi) was a cult
member and an internet fraudster.
Putting up defence for Adebisi, Adeola said his late brother dealt in
crypto currencies, especially bitcoin business. He said Adebisi was
close to some car dealers and he operated as a middleman between sellers
and buyers and he got commission.
He said, “Muritala’s allegations that my younger brother was a cultist and internet frauster(yahoo, yahoo) were all lies.
“I travelled to Awa-Ijebu to see my brother in his hostel behind the
police station. I knew him well; he was never a cultist nor a Yahoo boy.
He was into crypto currencies, especially bitcoin.
“He equally was making money acting as a middleman between those who
wanted to buy cars and car dealers. He got his own commission from such
sales.”
In his own defence, Adebisi’s mother, Maria, said she could swear
with her life that her late son was not a bad child. She argued that
Muritala only murdered his son just out of envy. She explained that she
had a one-on-one discussion with Muritala, at Eleweran, shortly after
the suspects were paraded.
She said, “Among all my children, he was the most quiet and he could
not hurt a fly. He did not keep bad company, much less of joining a
secret cult or going into internet fraud.
“When all the journalists had left after Muritala and other suspects
had been paraded at Eleweran, I moved closer to him and asked him, ‘Why
did you kill my son? His reply was, ‘I killed him because I envied
him.’”
Now struggling to fight back tears, she added, “With the murder of my
son, Muritala has taken me to a village square and stripped me naked.
“My son loved God, he never missed going to church. He attended the
Redeemed Christian Church of God and never missed the monthly Holy Ghost
service at the Redemption camp.
“He never smoked nor drank alcohol and quite humble. I knew that he
was helping people to buy cars from dealers and he earned commission
from such sales.”
On his part, Adebisi’s father also said, “My son was never a cultist
nor an internet fraudster. The suspect, Babatunde Muritala, kept going
back and forth. He was quoted to have said that my late son used to help
him with money but suddenly he stopped and became arrogant and that was
why he killed him.”
Julia’s mother, Mrs Olamma Ofor, who wept during the parade of the
suspects, was too grief-stricken to talk to journalists. All she could
mutter was, “She was my daughter; she was just 18 and they were just
wasted like that. Justice must be served in this case.”
Though Adebisi’s remains had been buried in his father’s compound at
Ota, his father and mother are equally asking that the killers of their
children should face the wrath of the law.
The father said, “All I want from the government is that justice must
be served in this case. They had killed my son, they should also suffer
the same fate.”
“He killed my son wickedly, he should also pay the supreme price,” added the mother.
Culled from: PUNCHNG.