An Abeokuta Magistrates Court in Isabo, Ogun State, remanded the suspected killers of Mr and Mrs Kehinde Fatinoye and their surviving son yesterday.
Lekan Adekanbi, 27, Ahmed Odetola, 29, Waheed Adeniyi, 23, Temitope Fadairo, 26, Adenike Adekanbi, 50, and Anuoluwapo Owolaja, 25, are the defendants.
The defendants are facing an 11-count charge of conspiracy, murder, felony, arson, setting property ablaze, stealing and escape from a lawful authority, amongst others.
The Police Counsel, Miss Oluwatosin Jackson, who moved a motion ex-parte, pursuant to Section 306 of Administration of Criminal Justice, Laws of Ogun State, prayed for an order of the court to remand the defendants.
Jackson prayed the court to remand the defendants for 60 days, in the first instance, at Oba prison, pending legal advice from the office of the state Director of Public Prosecution, DPP.
She said that the suspected killers, Adekanbi, Odetola and Adeniyi, committed the offences on January 1, 2023, at about 1:30 a.m., at Ibara Housing Estate in Abeokuta.
The council said that the defendants conspired among themselves and killed Mr Kehinde Fatinoye, 57, by piercing his neck with a knife and Mrs Bukola Fatinoye, 50, by hitting a hammer on her head.
Jackson further stated that the defendants also killed the only surviving child of the couple, Oreoluwa, 26, by pushing him into the Ogun river, which led to his death.
She explained that they also stole six phones, valued at N1.5 million and one Hyundai car, valued at N12 million from the couple at gunpoint and later set the couple and their house ablaze.
The council noted that Fadairo, Adekanbi, Owolabi and Usman Azeez conspired among themselves to commit a felony, to wit: accessory after the fact of murder.
She said that Fadairo and Adekanbi assisted Lekan Adekanbi in relocating and hiding him at the Akinbade area of Obantoko area in Abeokuta by preventing the police from arresting him.
The council also said that Azeez and Owolaja conspired among themselves to buy the deceased’s car stolen from their compound.
According to her, the offences contravene Sections 316, 319(1), 516, 443 and 324 of the Criminal Code, Laws of Ogun State, 2006 and Section 1(2)(b) of the Robbery and Firearms (Special Provisions) Act, Cap. Rll, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004.
The Chief Magistrate II, Mrs Esther Idowu, ordered that the defendants Adekanbi, Odetola, Adeniyi, Owolaja and Azeez be remanded in Oba prison.
She also ordered the remand of Fadairo and Adenike Adekanbi in Ibara prison for 60 days, pending legal advice from the office of the state DPP.
She, thereafter, adjourned the case till April 17, 2023, for mention.