Suspected Ogun serial killer pleads for death penalty

A suspected serial killer, Philip Ogunnaike, who was arrested in Ogun State, has pleaded that he and his accomplices be sentenced to death.

Ogunnaike made the plea in an interrogation video obtained by the presson Monday and shared by the state Police Public Relations Officer, Omolola Odutola, on her X page.

According to the suspect, he was lured into the act of killing by one Danjuma and some other persons who allegedly initiated him into the outlawed Eiye confraternity.

While urging the police to ensure the arrest of Danjuma and other alleged accomplices, Ogunnaike stressed that his only plea was to be sentenced to death when arraigned in court.

“I don’t want anything other than the police to arrest Danjuma and others who initiated me into the Eiye cult. If we get to court, they should not bother hearing our case, they should just go and kill us.

“But before they kill us, they should give me food so that I can eat before they kill me because those that I killed may just have finished eating before I killed them,” he said in Yoruba (now translated).

The 29-year-old suspect was arrested on suspicion of killing at least three young girls, including an 18-year-old, in separate incidents across the state.

The command had stated that the suspect’s method was to lure his victims into the forest, where he would tie them up, strangle them, and then abandon their bodies after stealing their phones.

According to the command, investigations revealed that Ogunnaike had escaped from the Ibara Correctional Centre about two years ago while being taken to the Magistrate Court in Isabo for an ongoing armed robbery case.

While announcing the arrest on Friday, the command revealed that those allegedly killed by him included 18-year-old Akinsanya Habibat, 22-year-old Abigail Dina, and 23-year-old Mary Ogunyemi.

Ogunnaike had confessed to killing the three victims and leaving their bodies in the forest. He had also led the police’s anti-kidnapping team to multiple locations where the three victims were murdered.

He, along with an accomplice who is currently at large, was accused of luring his neighbour’s 23-year-old daughter, Ogunyemi, to a forest. They allegedly tied her up, strangled her, and abandoned her body after stealing her phone.

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. Philip Ogunnaike 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.”

The command stated that the suspect was responsible for the death of his employer’s 18-year-old daughter Akinsanya in an incident that took place at Mile 6, Abeokuta, on August 30, 2024, around 5 pm.

Ogunnaike had allegedly kidnapped the victim, raped her, and then strangled her to death with a rope on her father’s farm in the community.

He later called the parents to demand a ransom before fleeing the scene.

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 N1m 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 a rope.”

Meanwhile, the state Police Commissioner, Abiodun Alamutu, has disclosed that a manhunt had begun for other accomplices of Ogunnaike.