The police said on Thursday that they have arrested the killers of Mrs. Funke Olakunrin, the daughter of the leader of Afenifere, Pa Reuben Fasoranti.
The suspects were identified as Lawal Mazaje, 40, from the Felele area of Kogi State; Adamu Adamu, 50, from Jada, Adamawa State; Mohammed Usman, 26, from Illela, Sokoto State; and Auwal Abubakar, 25, an indigene of Shinkafi, Zamfara State.
According to the Police, investigation revealed that the killing was carried out by eight fully armed suspected robbers led by one Tambaya still at large.
The Force spokesman, DSP Frank Mba in a statement on Thursday explained that efforts were being intensified to arrest the four other suspects currently on the run.
Recall that Mrs. Olakunrin was attacked between Kajola and Ore on the Ondo-Ore Road in Ondo State on July 13, 2019, while returning to Lagos after visiting her father in Akure.
The Afenifere spokesperson, Yinka Odumakin, had on April 7, said in a statement that four suspects had been arrested in connection with the murder.
In the statement on Thursday, Mba, recalled that the Inspector-General of Police, Mohammed Adamu, had in the aftermath of the incident directed the Commissioner of Police, Federal Special Anti-Robbery Squad, Fimihan Adeoye, to coordinate the team of police special forces and seasoned investigators from the Force Criminal Investigation Department, the Intelligence Response Team and the Technical Intelligence Unit to investigate the murder.
According to Mba, after months of relentless efforts, the police team, on March 4, 2020, during a follow-up action on a high-profile armed robbery and kidnap for ransom case that occurred in Ogun State, arrested Abubakar, an accessory after the fact of the crime, along the Sagamu-Ore Expressway in Ondo State.
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The statement added, “The arrest of Abubakar led to the arrest of two other members of the gang, Mohammed Usman and Lawal Mazaje, in Benin, Edo State, from whom a cache of ammunition was recovered, and one other, Adamu Adamu, in Akure, Ondo State.
“Having established sufficient physical and forensic evidence linking the suspects to the killing of Mrs. Funke Olakunrin, the investigators, determined to clear all doubts relating to their findings, on April 8, 2020, conducted an identification parade at the Federal SARS headquarters, Lagos, which led to the positive and physical identification of Adamu, Mazaje and Usman by a survivor of the earlier crime.”
He said the survivor gave a clear description of the roles each of the identified suspects played in the killing.
“At this point, the suspects capitulated and voluntarily offered a no holds barred confession on how Mrs. Olakunrin was killed,” the force stated.
It added that the eight-man gang had their operational base and membership spread in the south-western part of the country and Edo State, noting that it was responsible for a series of high-profile armed robbery and kidnap operations in the region.
Meanwhile, the statement noted that the IG has declared the main suspect, Tambaya.
“Tambaya, a Nigerian, speaks Hausa, Fulfulde and pidgin English languages. He is fair in complexion and in his late 20s, between the ages of 27 and 30. His last known address is Isanlu, Kogi State. He has a visible scar from stitches on his forehead down to his nose and mouth,” the statement added.
