Bamigbola Gbolagunte, Akure
The pan Yoruba socio-cultural organization, Afenifere, and the Ondo State Police Command have disagreed over the arrest of the suspected killers of Mrs Funke Olakunrin, daughter of Afenifere leader, Chief Reuben Fasoranti.
Afenifere had, through its national publicity secretary, Mr Yinka Odumakin, claimed that four persons from the northern part of the country have been arrested by the police in connection with the killing of Mrs Olakunrin.
Odumakin said some top police officers, who visited Fasoranti in his residence in Akure, Ondo State, revealed that some suspects were arrested in connection with the killing of Mrs Olakunrin.
However, the spokesperson of Afenifere failed to disclose the identities of the suspects.
But the state Commissioner of Police, Mr Undie Adie, denied the arrest saying the police are yet to make any arrest regarding the incident.
He said the police are in the best position to make the arrest known if there was such development and not Afenifere, stressing that the police could not hide such sensitive development.
But Odumakin, in a statement issued yesterday, urged the public to disregard the police claim.
He said: “The public should disregard any misleading statement from Ondo State Police Command on the arrest of the killers of Mrs Olakunrin.
“The regular police in Ondo State has behaved so irresponsibly on the murder of Mrs Funke Olakunrin in the last nine months and this breakthrough could never have been theirs.
“But for SARS that has now apprehended the suspected killers, we would have lost confidence in the organization.
“We were shocked that the regular police in Ondo released the car in which Mrs Olakunrin was killed to the family the day after the incident without any forensic. It was after Afenifere’s complaint to the police at the highest level that they came to take the car for forensic after seven days of people touching the car with no report to the family till date. They just asked them to come and take the car that they were done with it. They were not going to do any autopsy on her until we insisted one must be carried out. They never deemed it necessary to brief the family once in the last nine months.
“But the SARS, who arrested the suspected killers, formally briefed Papa Fasoranti last Saturday showing the responsible face of the police. The 94-year-old Pa Fasoranti, who has been having sleepless nights in the last nine months, has resumed normal sleep since SARS briefed him on the arrest.
“The driver, who was on the wheel when Mrs Olakunrin was killed and went with the killers, was treated with kid gloves by the regular police in Ondo but the SARS has taken him yesterday after he failed to report for days despite repeated invitations.
“Once again, we commend the SARS for the wonderful job they have done and we wait for thorough investigation that will lead to diligent prosecution.”