The Ogun State Police Command has arrested a 29-year-old man, Ogunnaike Philip, on suspicion of murdering at least three young girls, including an 18-year-old, in separate incidents throughout the state.
The police command reported that the suspect’s method involved luring his victims into the forest, where he would tie them up, strangle them, and then abandon their bodies after stealing their phones.
According to the police, investigations indicated that the suspect is a suspected serial killer who escaped from the Ibara Correctional Centre about two years ago while being taken to the Magistrate Court in Isabo for an ongoing armed robbery case.
While announcing the arrest on Friday, the command disclosed that the victims of Philip’s crimes included 18-year-old Akinsanya Habibat, 22-year-old Abigail Dina, and 23-year-old Mary Ogunyemi.
In a statement released late Friday by the police command’s spokesperson, Omolola Odutola, it was disclosed that Philip had confessed to killing the three victims and abandoning their bodies in the forest.
After his confession, the suspect guided the police’s anti-kidnapping team to several locations where the murders of the three victims occurred.
According to the police, 22-year-old nurse Dina left her home at 8:10 am on May 6, 2024, in Iyana Egbado, Ewekoro Local Government, to head to her workplace at Sodipo Medical Centre in Itori, when she was abducted by the suspect and taken to an unknown forest in Itori.
The statement read, “The kidnapper stole an iPhone XR from the victim and then strangled her to death. Subsequently, he contacted her family by phone and demanded a ransom of N50,000.
“Afterward, the suspect abandoned her body in the forest. Ogunnaike Philip, a male suspect, was arrested in connection with the case and confessed to committing the crime.
“The suspect confessed that he fled to Saki town in Oyo State, where he exchanged the stolen iPhone XR for an Infinix Hot 10 and received a cash sum of N65,000.”
Philip, along with an accomplice who is currently at large, is accused of luring his neighbor’s 23-year-old daughter, Ogunyemi, to a forest. They allegedly tied her up, strangled her, and left her body after stealing her phone.
The statement added, “On July 3, 2024, at approximately 10 a.m., the late Mary Ogunyemi, a 23-year-old lady, was sent by her mother, Mrs. Ogunyemi Esther, to buy fruits at Adatan from Asero Estate. She was accompanied by the suspect, Philip.
“Philip, a male suspect, was staying with someone in the same compound as the victim. He lured her to a nearby bush in Asero Estate and called in another accomplice to assist him in the kidnapping.
“The victim was bound with rope and robbed of an iPhone S. Ogunnaike Philip and his accomplice jointly strangled her to death. The two criminals later contacted the victim’s mother by phone and demanded a ransom of seventeen thousand naira.
“The duo abandoned the corpse of the victim inside the bush and fled to Badagry, Lagos State, to sell off the stolen iPhone S at the rate of N8,000.”
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The command stated that the suspect was responsible for the death of his employer’s 18-year-old daughter, Akinsanya, in an incident that occurred at Mile 6, Abeokuta, on August 30, 2024, around 5 p.m.
Philip allegedly kidnapped the victim, raped her, and then strangled her to death with a rope on her father’s farm in the area.
Afterward, he called the parents to demand a ransom before fleeing the scene.
The command noted, “The father received a phone call on his daughter Habibat Akinsanya’s phone, informing him that she, aged 18, had been kidnapped and that he needed to pay a ransom of one million naira for her release.
“The victim’s father subsequently paid N30,000 to the Moniepoint account number given by the kidnapper. Later, her body was discovered on her father’s farmland in Obasa village, Mile 6, Abeokuta, Ogun State, along with her PoS machine found beside her.
“The suspect admitted that the victim’s father employed him and was working on the farm when he saw the victim passing by. He lured her to the farm and then tied her legs with rope.”
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