Man Kills Childhood Friend In Ondo, Steals His Motorcycle

The Ondo State Police Command has arrested Dolapo Babalola, a 39-year-old man, for allegedly killing his childhood friend, Evangelist Opeyemi Oyelakin, 34, stealing the deceased’s motorbike, and selling it to a bidder in Ibadan for N130,000.

The man and his accomplice, Sikiru Mutiu, who remains at large, committed the crime on March 15, 2024, in Ondo town.

Babalola, who admitted to the act, claimed he and Mutiu duped the dead into taking them to Oke-Igbo, a few kilometres from Ondo town, to inspect a plot of land.

When they arrived at the land, which was hidden behind a bush, Sikiru seized the deceased from behind, while Babalola beat him with a stick and a stone till he died.

Police said the thieves took the deceased to a shallow grave and covered it with leaves before fleeing with the motorbike.

After unsuccessful attempts to locate the father of one child, his family filed a police report.

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Following the tracking of the deceased’s call logs, detectives went into action and detained Babalola at his apartment in Ondo town, the headquarters of the state’s Ondo West Local Council.

Babalola, who talked after leading the police to where the victim was dumped, expressed guilt for killing his close friend and blamed the devil.

“It’s the work of the devil; I can’t explain because this person that we are talking about is my close friend. Truly, his bike is not the first I will ever snatch, but I have never killed one before. Even those that are not related to me, I snatched bikes from them, and I did not even do anything harmful to them,” he said.

“At least I have snatched about 15 bikes, but I have never killed before. His own is the first; my buyer is in Ibadan. But we sold this one at the rate of N130,000, and we share the money equally because we are two in the business.

“When we intended to collect the bike from him, he dragged it with us, and I hit him with a stone. I know his mum and younger brother. I can’t really explain why I killed him. I am a trader. I sell oranges, but I don’t have a shop. I do go to villages to buy oranges. I am from Oyo State, Ibadan, precisely. But I reside in Ondo town.”

Abayomi Oladipo, the state’s Commissioner of Police, who led detectives and medical workers to extract the deceased’s deteriorating body from the pit where it was dumped, claimed the suspect is part of a huge syndicate and that attempts are underway to apprehend other members of the group.

“He has snatched an uncountable number of motorcycles. Through technical intelligence, the suspect was arrested and upon interrogation, he confessed to how he committed the crime,” the CP stated.

“I want to use this opportunity to alert the members of the public, most especially those who ride Okada to be careful of the passengers that will engage their services to far areas and take them to isolated roads.

“Also, I want to say that the residents of this area, especially those who have farmed here since on the 15th of March, when this incident happened till date, kept mute which is not supposed to be. So what we are saying is that if you see something you must say something.”

A Gentle Reminder: Every obstacle is a stepping stone, every morning; a chance to go again, and those little steps take you closer to your dream.

Nnamdi Okoli