The Ogun State Police Command has arrested Ogunnaike Philip, 29, on suspicion of murdering at least three young females, including an 18-year-old, in different events around the state.
According to the command, the suspect lured his victims into the forest, tied them up, strangled them, and then abandoned their corpses after snatching their phones.
According to the command, investigations showed that the suspect is a suspected serial murderer who escaped from the Ibara Correctional Centre roughly two years ago while being transported to the Magistrate Court in Isabo for an ongoing armed robbery.
While announcing the arrest on Friday, the command disclosed that the victims of Philip’s crimes were Akinsanya Habibat (18), Abigail Dina (22) and Mary Ogunyemi (23).
The command’s spokesman, Omolola Odutola, made this revelation in a statement she posted late on Friday. Philip had admitted to killing the three victims and disposing of their remains in the forest.
The suspect led the police’s anti-kidnapping squad to many sites where the three victims were killed after he confessed.
Police said that on May 6, 2024, at 8:10 a.m., 22-year-old Dina, a nurse, left her house in Iyana Egbado, Ewekoro Local Government, to go to work at Sodipo Medical Centre in Itori. While en route, the suspect kidnapped Dina and took her to an unidentified woodland in Itori.
The statement read, “The kidnapper stole an iPhone XR from the victim and then strangled her to death. Subsequently, he contacted her family by phone and demanded a ransom of N50,000.
“Afterward, the suspect abandoned her body in the forest. Ogunnaike Philip, a male suspect, was arrested in connection with the case and confessed to committing the crime.
“The suspect confessed that he fled to Saki town in Oyo State, where he exchanged the stolen iPhone XR for an Infinix Hot 10 and received a cash sum of N65,000.”
Philip and an accomplice, who is still at large, were charged with enticing Ogunyemi, the 23-year-old daughter of their neighbour, into a woodland. After snatching her phone, they reportedly tied her up, strangled her, and left her corpse unattended.
The statement added, “On July 3, 2024, at approximately 10 a.m., the late Mary Ogunyemi, a 23-year-old lady, was sent by her mother, Mrs. Ogunyemi Esther, to buy fruits at Adatan from Asero Estate. She was accompanied by the suspect, Philip.
“Philip, a male suspect, was staying with someone in the same compound as the victim. He lured her to a nearby bush in Asero Estate and called in another accomplice to assist him in the kidnapping.
“The victim was bound with rope and robbed of an iPhone S. Ogunnaike Philip and his accomplice jointly strangled her to death. The two criminals later contacted the victim’s mother by phone and demanded a ransom of seventeen thousand naira.
“The duo abandoned the corpse of the victim inside the bush and fled to Badagry, Lagos State, to sell off the stolen iPhone S at the rate of N8,000.”
According to the command, on August 30, 2024, at around five o’clock in the evening, an event occurred at Mile 6, Abeokuta, that resulted in the death of Akinsanya, the eighteen-year-old daughter of his employer.
The lady was reportedly abducted by Philip, who then sexually assaulted her before strangling her to death on her father’s farm in the neighbourhood.
Later, before leaving the area, he contacted the parents to demand a ransom.
The command noted, “The father received a phone call on his daughter Habibat Akinsanya’s phone, informing him that she, aged 18, had been kidnapped and that he needed to pay a ransom of one million naira for her release.
“The victim’s father subsequently paid N30,000 to the Moniepoint account number given by the kidnapper. Later, her body was discovered on her father’s farmland in Obasa village, Mile 6, Abeokuta, Ogun State, along with her PoS machine found beside her.
“The suspect admitted that the victim’s father employed him and was working on the farm when he saw the victim passing by. He lured her to the farm and then tied her legs with rope.”