The Oyo State police command has apprehended the group of five armed robbers responsible for the brutal murder of Mrs. Olaitan Gbenle, a retired 69-year-old Oyo Permanent Secretary, in her Ibadan home. Simon Ojei, a 37-year-old man from Edo state and one of the suspects, claimed that their original intention was to steal the victim’s cars, but complications arose when she recognized their gang leader, Bello. Ojei stated that another member, identified as Bisiriyu, suggested killing the woman to avoid being identified.
During an interview with Tribune, he mentioned that all five of them participated in the operation: Bello, Bisiriyu, Tope, Aboki, and himself. They climbed over the fence around 10 pm and broke the window’s burglar proof to enter the house. They were taken aback to find the woman inside since Bello had assured them she wouldn’t be home. Their intention wasn’t to harm the woman; they were after the cars parked at her house.
According to him,
“We met her in the sitting room watching TV. She was shocked when she saw us. We told her to give us money but she said she didn’t have. We asked for her car keys and she gave them to us. Bisiriyu collected her phone and ATM cards. We asked her to sit on chair and tied her hands to her back. We also tied her legs. We took the fried pieces of meat she had and started eating them. We also drank the fruit wine we found in the fridge. We took foodstuff from the house too.
“Then, Bello said that since he was known by our victim, things would turn awry. Bisiriyu suggested killing her but I did not agree with them. They went inside and Bisiriyu twisted her neck, leading to her instant death. Tope and Aboki drove the cars out of the compound.
“We took the cars to Omisore, whom I got to know as FM, at Ojodu-Berger area in Lagos State. Bisiriyu was the one who connected us with him. He said he would pay N2.3 million and gave us N100,000 as first payment. We shared it N20,000 each and I returned to Ibadan.
“However, after a week, we didn’t hear from FM. Wondering what was happening, we quarrelled with Bisiriyu, thinking that he collected the money behind us. Along the line, FM called us to send our account numbers to him. He sent N200,000 to me and I later learnt that he sent to Bello and Bisiriyu, leaving out Tope and Aboki.