Two Arrested For Killing Chief Priest And Stealing His Oracle

Two suspects have been detained by the Ondo State Police Command for allegedly stealing the oracle from the Irese community in the state’s Ifedore Local Government and killing Ajayi Ajisegiri, 90, by strangulation.

Before he passed away, the nonagenarian served as the community of Irese’s chief priest, guardian of the oracle, and leader of the hunters.

The two suspects, John Samson, 27, and Dada Ologundudu, 51, were accused of plotting to take the oracle and breaking into the Chief priest’s house.

The oracle was allegedly taken from the custodian’s home in Oke Mission by one of the suspects, Ologundudu, a commercial motorcycle rider called as “Kayefi.”

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The Chief Priest, who suspected Ologundudu, contacted him and warned him to return the oracle, threatening to alert the community leaders about the missing oracle if Ologundudu did not.

According to a source in the community, the Ajisegiri was found dead in his room a day after he had threatened to report the suspect to the entire neighbourhood for stealing the community’s spiritual artefact, known as “Osho Osi Ode,” which was kept in his care.

Mrs Beatrice Ademeti, the landlady of the suspect, also acknowledged that the dead had visited her home the day before the incident to warn the suspect to bring back the local oracle.

According to Ademeti, the suspect claimed to be a herbalist and was close enough to the deceased to know about the oracle before stealing it.

“The motorcyclist cannot say he’s not responsible for the death of Ajisegiri, because, on the night of the incident, I overheard the deceased shouting at the suspect, saying he gave him a day to return the community’s property he took in his room or else he would report the case to the whole town the next day,” she said.

“The suspect later came back at night to give Baba three sachets of alcoholic drink which made the deceased sleep off. The next day around 8:00 am, l noticed the deceased had not opened his door which was unusual of him.

“I called other neighbours around and I explained to them that the deceased had not opened his door since morning, which made them force his door open. To our surprise, we found his lifeless body on the floor in his room with bruises and blood on his neck.”

According to reports, the suspect attempted to flee the town following the death of the oracle custodian but was arrested by members of the community, who turned him over to the palace.

The suspect originally denied stealing the oracle and murdering the deceased, but later recanted after being threatened by community elders.

Ologundudu told the community leaders where he concealed the oracle, which was later recovered with the help of police detectives in an uncompleted structure. The oracle was then returned to the community.

The suspect was handed over to Ijare Police Station investigators, while the matter was moved to the State Criminal Investigation and Intelligence Department (SCIID), Akure, for further investigation.

According to Funmi Odunlami, a police spokesperson, who confirmed the occurrence, the two suspects have been arrested in connection with the deceased’s death and the theft of the oracle.