Monarch in Akinyele local government have taken spiritual steps and dispatched local hunters to ensure the re-arrest of Sunday Shodipe, the prime suspect in the serial killings in the area.
OYOINSIGHT.COM recalls that Shodipe who was paraded by the Oyo State Police Command last month , escaped from the Mokola Police State, where he was remanded, last week.
In an interview with The Guardian in their palaces , yesterday , two traditional rulers in the council, the Oniroko of Iroko , Oba Olasunkanmi Abioye , and Alakinyele of Akinyele , Oba James Odeniran , said they were going spiritual to fish out the suspect from wherever he was hiding.
The monarchs, who disclosed that they had dispatched hunters, members of Soludero Hunters of Nigeria , members of Oodua Peoples Congress ( OPC ) and Agbekoya to fish him out , vowed that there is no escape route for the prime suspect.
Oba Abioye said : “We are going to make some sacrifices . We believe that after the sacrifices , we will fish him out. With the power of God , he will use his legs to come out . God will accept the sacrifices and make it possible for us to fish him out.
“ Our hunters are scattered all over, searching for him . They are working assiduously now. We believe that if he has certain powers , sacrifices will destroy those powers.
“ I felt embarrassed , because we didn ’ t expect that the Oyo State Police Command can do such thing to the public , because we depended on them seriously. The commissioner of Police and his officers are working hard with our hunters to get this boy.
“ So , when I heard that he escaped from the cell, it was very embarrassing to the traditional council in Ibadan land. We are not happy with it.
“ I want to appeal to our governor not to take this with lightly . He should come up with a strong decision with the federal government and Inspector General of Police ( IGP ), Mohammed Adamu.
“ He committed the first offence in Akinyele town , but he doesn ’ t stay there. He started committing the offence in Akinyele town before he went round the local government . ”
On his part, Oba Odeniran added : “ We are doing everything possible to fish him out . Our local hunters, Agbekoya , Soluderu and OPC are out there searching for him . We are also going traditional and performing some sacrifices to ensure we fish him out . ”
He expressed bemused on how Shodipe easily escaped , saying : “ Really , I could not believe it ; it came as a surprise to me . When the last person was killed , Funmilayo Oladeji , also called Mama Toyin , people were condoling me .
“ It was around that time that Barakat ’ s father came to me , saying his brother sighted the serial killer ( Shodipe) that killed his daughter somewhere around Elewure here in Akinyele town . I thought it could not be true, believing there was no way he could have escaped.
“ At that point , I sent two of my palace boys to go and confirm if truly he was sighted at Elewure . But alas , when they came back , they confirmed that he even drank tea at Elewure.
“ As soon as he left Elewure , he passed through the road that leads to the house of the woman that was killed . People said he was the one that killed the last woman, but they were confused as to whether he was actually the one or not , because the Police had not declared him wanted . Some even challenged him , asking if he was the one that committed those acts and he answered in affirmative.
“ By that time , the problem became who would bell the cat . And nobody came to tell me ; I heard about it latter, if I were told , I would have ordered my hunters to get him arrested . What I did was that I gathered all the hunters, OPC and other people connected with security to search for him . They were there, but they could not find him.”
