Herbalist facilitated my escape, says Oyo killer as force detains officers

Shodipe’s escape gave me greatest nightmare – Oyo CP
The Oyo State police command, yesterday, re-paraded Sunday Shodipe, the notorious suspect arrested in connection with serial killings in Akinyele Local Government Area, alongside eight suspects in connection with Okeho bank robbery, and two suspects for murder of a farmer’s fiancé.

Shodipe, who had earlier been paraded on July 17, however, escaped from the police custody on August 11 in Ibadan. After a week of manhunt, Shodipe was rearrested in Bodija area of Ibadan.

Speaking at the Eleyele Police Headquarters, Shodipe disclosed that the herbalist, who was paraded with him on July 17, Yunusa Adedokun, facilitated his escape from Mokola police station.

“I live in Moniya. I killed only one person after I escaped from Mokola Police station. The herbalist facilitated my escape. He approached the officers at the station, but they didn’t answer him. He now brought out strategies for me on how to escape.

“He said if I carry out the instruction, there is no point talking about him to the police. He is the one I work for. Baba asked me to be doing the operations at Akinyele Local Government Area. He told me after the act I should escape to my town in Ijebu, Ogun State, that within a year, the police would forget about me.”

The Commissioner of Police, Nwachukwu Enwonwu, said: “The escapee serial killer confessed that on August 13, at about 2:30p.m., he attacked one Mrs. Oladeji Funmilayo in her residence at Onikeke community, Akinyele area, Ibadan. The victim was rushed to the University College Hospital (UCH), Ibadan, where she later gave up the ghost.”

When asked where he headed after his escape, Shodipe said he went to Akinyele again. On how he killed the woman, Shodipe said he used machete to inflict injuries on her head.

The police boss said Shodipe and other suspects would be handed over to the Correctional Centre. He said the suspect was kept in police custody because of space constraint and COVID-19.
Earlier, while speaking at a radio programme, CP Enwonwu admitted that Shodipe’s escape gave him the greatest nightmare in his career. He said the experience gave him sleepless nights until the suspect was re-arrested.

According to him, the incident not only made the Inspector-General (IG) of Police to call him, but also raised uproar across the world with people contacting him from the United States of America and Europe.

“The news of Shodipe’s escape was both an embarrassment and a nightmare to me. My greatest happiness is that he escaped under my watch and he was rearrested under my watch too. It was the greatest nightmare of my life. I had sleepless nights because people were saying all sorts of things and they kept calling me, that I should be removed from my post, even though they knew that I was not the one responsible for his escape. The society was not fair to us.

“Some said he disappeared. There is nothing like that. The police officer who opened the cell for him was unprofessional in his conduct, saying the suspect wanted to take a bath. He was not even on duty. He collected the key from another officer who was on duty and opened the cell. They are both in police custody now and they are going to pay for it. Their matter has left the command level. ”