THREE out of the five suspected killers of a senior officer of the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC), Lasisi Funmilayo Oluwamayokun, and her only child, 12-year-old Sewa Lasisi, have met their waterloo. The three suspects —Fajemirokun Victor, Daramola Gboyega a.k.a. Abere’fa and Sunday James— were arrested, one after the other, by the operatives of Anti-Kidnapping Squad of Osun State Police Command, after attempts to escape justice.
The suspected mastermind of the homicide, Victor, believed to be a friend trusted by the FRSC officer, was said to have lured her from Abeokuta, Ogun State, to Iwoye Ijesa where she and daughter were not only murdered, but decapitated, with parts of their bodies taken by the killers.
Two other suspects, Adumati Idowu and Faturoti Kehinde a.k.a Ifagoriite, are still at large.
The Commissioner of Police, Ibrahim Gotan, on Wednesday, had briefed journalists on how a case of missing person, reported on November 10 by the brother and wife of one of the suspects, Victor, turned into the case of murder of mother and daughter.
Findings by Sunday Tribune revealed that the AKS operatives, led by the Commander, CSP Adeniyi, began an investigation. However, through intelligence, they found out that the ‘missing’ person was still communicating with some people, including Abere’fa, after the date the matter was reported to have occurred.
When Abere’fa was eventually located at his residence in Iwoye Ijesa, a neighbouring community with Ijebu Jesa, the operatives went to his house on Saturday , November 15, at about 6p.m. However, as soon he perceived that his ‘visitors’ were police operatives, Abere’fa stealthily left the toilet he was in and went into hiding. His escape aroused suspicion that he was likely to know the whereabouts of the man reported missing.
Undeterred, the operatives, through intelligence-led policing, found Abere’fa at Iloko Ijesa and arrested him at about 4a.m. on Sunday, November 16. When interrogated on the whereabouts of Victor, he confessed that he had fled, disclosing that he brought a woman and her daughter to him on November 1. Abere’fa also revealed that they had allegedly killed the mother and her 12-year-old daughter, Sewa.
The investigation yielded fruit two days after Abere’fa’s was nabbed, with the arrest of James in Ekiti State where he had gone to hide. Sunday Tribune learnt that James was Abere’fa’s apprentice in Ifa divination and practice.
Abere’fa told the police that Victor brought the deceased FRSC officer to be killed. The native doctor was said to have taken police operatives to the river into where the remains of the deceased FRSC officer was thrown into. Shockingly, her head, palms, breasts, intestines, liver and heart had been removed.
James also took them to the spot where the the deceased’s daughter was killed at Agric Farm Settlement, along Esa Odo Road, which was a little bit distant from Abere’fa’s residence. The girl was also dismembered.
With the help of INTERPOL, Victor was arrested in Ghana and brought back to Nigeria. He was handed over to the Anti-Kidnapping Squad in Lagos State.
During interrogation, Victor disclosed that, in October, he told Abere’fa that things were not going well for him. He said that when Abere’fa consulted the oracle, he told him of the need to kill his lover for his glory to be restored. On November 2, he took the woman to Abere’fa’s residence where she was killed. Believing that their secret would be exposed, the killer gang, as directed by Victor, decided to snuff life out the young girl, Sewa. However , Victor said that he knew nothing about the dismemberment of the two victims.
Victor, aged 37, who hails from Ondo Town, but lives in Osogbo, told Sunday Tribune in an interview that he was involved in catering services and event planning, before his business lost the vibe.
Excerpts of the interview went thus:
How were you related to the late FRSC officer?
She was my girlfriend. We started our relationship in 2023. I didn’t know where she was working until later.
Please, tell us what happened on November 1.
Before that day, my business was no longer booming. I went to Abere’fa whom I had known on TikTok. He had once told me that I should not leave Ifa divination since that’s the family I came from. He said I should come for appeasement to the gods.
In October, a friend, Dare, took me Abere’fa’s house. The Ifa priest asked me about the women in my life, and I told him they were my wife and girlfriend. Abere’fa consulted the oracle and asked if I could bring Funmilayo to him, and I said yes. He told me that I was experiencing misfortune because of her, saying that if she should come, he would take my fortune back from her.
I went to meet Funmilayo in Abeokuta, and during our discussion, I told she would carry out some cleansing (bo ori) and also make offerings to her spiritual group in the marine world.
When we got to Abere’fa, he invited three men. He deceived Funmilayo into believing that he wanted to make sacrifices to the god of iron (ògùn) for her. We went into the bush behind Abere’fa’s residence at about 11a.m. on Sunday, November 2, Funmilayo went with four of us —Kehinde, Idowu James and I— without hesitation.
She was told to kneel, while one of us made incantation. Suddenly, three of us grabbed her while James used a knife to slit her throat. I ran out of the bush to Abere’fa. Others also came out.
Were you there when her body was dismembered?
I was not there.
Is it true that you ordered the killing of Sewa, your friend’s daughter?
Yes. When I ran out of the bush after her mother was killed, Abere’fa told me that the girl would reveal everything we had done. We all agreed that she should be killed.
Where did you go after leaving the place?
I went to where I parked my car at Ikoyi. I scattered my clothes on the ground around the car and went to pray on Ikoyi Mountain. I did not get my bearings right again. I started begging those who came for prayers to help me. They gave me money and told me to go to Ibadan.
I got to Ibadan and told people I saw along the road that I was not okay, saying that some people were out to kill me. I was advised to leave the area where I live. On my way to Lagos, a co-passenger I spoke with directed me to Lagos Island to board a bus to Accra, Ghana. I met a man who gave me the job of a bricklayer and a place to lay my head. Later, he told me that he had seen my photo on the social media. He advised me to go back to Nigeria and turn myself in. I was there when the police came for me.”
Abere’fa also spoke with Sunday Tribune, saying “I’m from Usi Ekiti, but I reside in Iwoye Ijesa. I’m an Ifa priest and native doctor.
“I knew Victor about four years ago through one Dare whose mother is from my town. The mother and I belong to Ogboni cult, and Dare used to bring her to me whenever she was in Ilesa. Contrary to what Victor said, we didn’t meet on TikTok. I desired to make him my client because he had a photo of a lawyer’s wig on display on his WhatsApp, so I thought he was a lawyer. I just started TikTok page in 2024.
“Recently, he called that he wanted to discuss something with me, but not on phone. He was brought to me by Dare, and he told me that he went to one Alfa who said that a woman was scattering his fortune. He asked me what to do, telling me that he wanted his girlfriend to die, because the Alfa told him that he would never taste fortune again if his lover remains alive.
“I thought it was just to carry out rites for cleansing. Victor came on November 1 with his girlfriend and her daughter, but we couldn’t see because I was in hospital with my wife who just delivered a baby. The following day, November 2, Victor came again. He made his woman believe we were carrying out some rites. I was the one who invited Kehinde, Idowu and James for the job. The woman at a time became uncomfortable and wanted to leave. Victor came to me to say we should find a way of killing her inside my house which I rejected. The three men I invited went with Victor and his girlfriend into a bush behind my house where they killed her.
“Her daughter, oblivious of what was happening, was playing with my children. Victor ran back to my house, took the child and started operating the deceased’s phone. Later, he told me that he had directed Kehinde, Idowu and James to kill Sewa as he didn’t want to see her and her mother again.”
Speaking on the dismemberment of the victims’ bodies, Abere’fa said: “Immediately after the killing of the child, Victor left. He later called me on phone that I should tell my boys to clear the place where the murder was carried out, in order not to leave a trace. That was why they went to remove some body parts. I was not there when they did it. When I was arrested, I led the police to recover palms and flesh from the thigh which I was given but had thrown into the river. I was not given a human head.
“Victor alerted me that our deed had been exposed, asking me to throw away my phone and run away. The day police came to my house, I ran away based on what Victor told me. I told the three men with me to also go into hiding. I ran to Iloko Ijesa but was apprehended less than 10 hours after.”
The third suspect, James, also admitted to being the one who slaughtered the victims with a knife. Aged 38, the suspect, whose origin is Abakaliki in Ebonyi State, but born in Ijebu Jesa, said: “I have never killed anyone in my life. This is the first time. I was into bricklaying and tiling before I joined Abere’fa to learn about Ifa divination.
“I was invited by my boss to come and kill our victims. I killed mother and daughter with a knife which I used to slit their throats. It was Victor and two others who held the mother as I killed her. It was Kehinde and Idowu who removed some human parts from the victims’ remains.”
He disclosed that he ran to hide in his Aramoko Ekiti family home
Pleading, James cried: “Please, the government should have mercy on me. I don’t know if I was hypnotised to carry out such an act. My mother and wife who heard about my involvement said that I should bear my burdens. The government should please pardon me.”
Provided by SyndiGate Media Inc. (Syndigate.info).
