How Police Were Forced to Reveal Escape of Ibadan Serial Killer from Custody – Victim’s Father

Ololade Adeyanju/

Kazeem Bello, father of 19-year-old Barakat, one of the earliest victims of the recent serial killings in Ibadan, has disclosed that police authorities were forced to reveal the escape of the suspected killer, Sunday Shodipe, from their custody, after he was sighted by some residents.

Shodipe reportedly escaped from the Mokola police station on August 11,

Bello, whose daughter was raped and murdered at his residence in Akinyele local government area of Ibadan, said he was shocked when a relation informed him that Shodipe was sighted in a market in the area.

He said, “A relative called me that Shodipe was sighted at Akinyele Elewure Market, but I said that was not possible. But when they insisted that they saw him, I decided to go there by myself.

“By the time I got there, I learnt that he had left. But those who saw him showed me his picture on their phones. I therefore went to meet the king of Akinyele and told him what I heard. He too did not believe the story, until he put a call through to a senior police officer in Iyaganku police station who confirmed to him that the suspect escaped from their custody three days earlier.” 

The Oyo State Police Command on July 17 paraded Shodipe alongside two others in connection with the serial killings in Akinyele area, after no fewer than eight persons had been killed in a similar circumstance.

The suspects were subsequently arraingned in court and were remanded in police custody.

Meanwhile, there is a high level of suspicion that the suspect may have been responsible for the killing another victim in Akinyele after he escaped from police custody.

The latest incident occurred on Saturday when a woman identified simply as Funmilayo was found in a pool of blood in her room, around 3pm, with a deep cut on her head.

The victim was reportedly confirmed dead at Adeoyo Hospital after she had been refused admission by two other hospitals due to the severity of her injury.

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