by S’ola Filani

The Ogun State Police Command has arrested Tolani Ajayi, a 21-year old student of the Department of History and International Relations, Redeemer University, RCCG Camp Ogun State for gruesomely killing his father, Barrister Charles Ajayi, 60, Senior Advocate of Nigeria, on Tuesday, July 3.

Confirming the report, the Police Public Relations Officer in the command, Olumuyiwa Adejobi, said that the suspect not only killed his father but cut his body into a box, and dumped it in a nearby bush at Canaan Land Street  in the RCCG  Camp.

The suspect was, however, arrested same day in his father’s residence – the scene of the crime – at about 5:30 p.m. after the discovery of the corpse and Police preliminary findings.

Redemption Camp DPO, Olaiya Martins who led a team of detectives and some members of the community traced ground marks of the box from where it was dumped to the house of the suspect. The corpse was traced to the house of the victim where they met the suspect in a relaxed mood.

Upon interrogation, the suspect, who had earlier lied that his dad had gone on evangelism, later confessed to the crime when he was taken to the Redemption Camp Divisional Headquarters.

He explained that the problem arose when his father confronted him for not responding to all the prayer points he raised, forcing his father to slap him. He said he went berserk, picked up a knife in the kitchen to stab his father. He later severed the victim’s throat with a cutlass.

The exhibits including the knife and cutlass he used in killing his father had been recovered by the police and the remains of the victim has been deposited at a morgue in Sagamu.

Ikemefuna Okoye, Commissioner of Police Ogun state has since sent a team of detectives led by the officer in charge of Homicide section of the Department of Criminal Investigation, Eleweran, Abeokuta to further investigate the murder.