The Kwara state Police Command says its detectives have recovered the severed head of a commercial motorcyclist, Rafiu Akano, who was murdered in Asunlere village, Oke-Oyi, in Ilorin East Local Government Area of Kwara State on Sunday.
The Police Command’s Public Relations Officer, Ejire-Adeyemi Toun, in a statement on Saturday, described the recovery as ‘an important breakthrough’.
The 34-year-old victim, whose dismembered remains were recovered, was brutally murdered by the trio of Peter Samuel, Jeremiah Tiozinda and Sunday Agbenke on 3rd November 2024.
According to the statement, Sunday Agbenke provided the phone contact of the motorcycle rider to Peter Samuel to lure him to an undisclosed location. On their way, the rider was stopped when Peter Samuel pretended to need to relieve himself, allowing Jeremiah Tiozinda to strike the rider on the head with a stick.
The rider fell off his motorcycle, struggling to escape, but was eventually overpowered by Peter Samuel and Jeremiah Tiozinda. Peter Samuel then used a cutlass to sever the head, while Jeremiah Tiozinda disposed of the dismembered part and cutlass into the stream, fleeing with the motorcycle.
The noise of the attack alerted a vigilante patrol team, who pursued the suspects. The culprits abandoned the motorcycle and fled into the bush. However, Peter Samuel’s mobile phone was left at the crime scene, leading to their arrest by police detectives.
“All three suspects have confessed to the crime, with the motive to dispossess the late Rafiu of his commercial motorcycle, the PRO disclosed, adding that one of the suspects, Samuel, who admitted to decapitating the motorcyclist with a cutlass, stated that they conspired to commit the murder to fund his wife’s burial, whose body was currently in a hospital mortuary.
Samuel explained, “I’m from Benue State. Sunday Agbenke gave us the phone number of the Okada rider, who he said had recently bought a new motorcycle. We hired the Okada rider to take us to Oloru, in the Moro Local Government Area. We killed him to take possession of his motorcycle because we needed money to transport my wife’s body home for burial.”
The Kwara State Commissioner of Police, Mr Victor Olaiya, stated that the suspects would be arraigned in court once investigations into the case are completed.
Olaiya, while reaffirming his commitment to protecting the lives and property of the people of Kwara, emphasised the enforcement of the restriction on motorcycle and tricycle movement from 9 pm to 6 am daily.
He warned that anyone found violating the law would face prosecution accordingly.
