Ondo State Government has arraigned four persons suspected to have killed Olufunke Olakunrin, daughter of Reuben Fasoranti, the leader of socio-cultural group, Afenifere.
The suspects were arraigned on Friday before an Akure Chief Magistrates’ Court on four-count charge bordering on conspiracy, murder and kidnapping.
The accused persons are Muhammed Usman, 26; Mazaje Lawal, 40; Adamu Adamu, 60 and Awalu Abubakar, 25.
Chief Magistrate Victoria Bob-Manuel, who did not take the plea of the accused, ordered that they should be remanded at the Nigeria Correctional Centre in Owo pending the receipt of legal advice from the Director of Public Prosecution (DPP).
Bob-Manuel also ordered that the accused should be tested for COVID-19 by the officials of Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) to ascertain their status before being taken to the correctional centre.
The original copy of the case file, she added, should be sent to the state’s Chief Registrar for safe keeping.
Bob-Manuel adjourned the case till June 3 for legal advice.
The prosecutor and Principal Legal Officer in the Office of the DPP, John Joshua, had told the court that the four accused persons and others still at large conspired and murdered the 58-year-old Olakunrin.
Mr Joshua also alleged that the accused persons killed a man, Ogunbiyi Mattew, 65, and kidnapped another, Gerald Igboayaka.
He further alleged that the accused persons committed the offences on or before July 12, 2019 around 9 am, at the Ore tollgate on the Ore-Ijebu-Ode Expressway.
The prosecutor said the offences contravened Sections 516 and 316 of Criminal Code, Cap 37, Vol. 1, Laws of Ondo State, 2006 and Section 3(ii)(b) of the Ondo State Anti-Kidnapping and Anti-Abduction Law, 2010.
Ondo State Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, Adekola Olawoye, who appeared for the state, said the government would ensure that the law took its course.
“It is not that the deceased was a daughter of Pa Fasoranti, but it has always been the tradition of the present government under Gov. Oluwarotimi Akeredolu to ensure that criminality is wiped out in the state,” Mr Olawoye said.
