On Sunday, the Ondo State Police Command announced the arrest of Dolapo Babalola, 39, for allegedly killing 34-year-old Opeyemi Oyelakin after stealing his motorbike.
According to the police, the suspect murdered the deceased on March 15, 2024, at Oke-Igbo town, Ile-Oluji/Oke-Igbo Local Government Area of the state, and then stole the victim’s motorbike.
Speaking on the incident, Abayomi Oladipo, the state Commissioner of Police, stated that the victim, a commercial motorbike rider, was enticed from Ondo town to a farm in Oke-Igbo town by the suspect and another person who is still at large under the guise of patronising him.
Oladipo further added that his officers were able to apprehend the suspect after the motorbike owner complained to the police that the deceased and his motorbike were missing.
He said, “On March 25, 2024, a complainant reported at police headquarters that the motorcycle he gave to a rider was not seen since March 15, 2024, and every effort to trace the rider proved futile. Consequent upon the report, police moved into action and through technical intelligence, the suspect was arrested.
“Upon interrogation of the suspect, he confessed to how the rider who incidentally happened to be his (suspect) friend, was engaged from Ondo town to take him and one other who is currently at large to a farm area in Oke-Igbo.
“They brought him to the area we are standing which falls within Ile-Oluji /Oke Igbo Local Government. On getting to this point, they came down under the pretence that they want to inspect their farm. The other suspect, now at large, gripped the okada rider at the back and the suspect that we apprehended hit him with a stone on the head and consistently used wood to hit his head.”
The CP stated that “thereafter, they dragged the already dead body into the bush, threw him into a pit and used leaf to cover him and left him there. Having been interrogated, he led operatives to this particular location where the dead body of the deceased was found.”
The suspect, Babalola, when asked the reason for killing his friend after stealing his motorcycle, said he could not explain the reason, blaming the devil.
Babalola revealed that he started stealing motorcycles since 2021 and had stolen over 15 motorcycles which he sold to a buyer in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital.
He, however, said that this was the first time he would kill his victim and could not explain the reason why.
He said, “Truly I can’t explain, it’s just the work of the devil. This person we are talking about is a close friend of mine, his bike is not the first bike I will ever snatch, but I have never killed before. Even those that are not related to me, I snatched bike from them and I did not even do anything harmful to them.
“I can not count the number of bikes I have stolen specifically but it’s more than 15. The person that used to buy the bike is at Ibadan.
“The amount we sell the stolen bikes depend on how clean the bike is, but no matter how clean the bike is, he (the buyer) has never bought anyone more than N200,000. This particular one was sold for N130,000.”