Posted by By MURPHY GANAGANA, Abuja on
Senior police officers and crime reporters were on Sunday held spell-bound at the Kam Salem House police headquarters in Abuja, as six suspected killers of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) governorship aspirant in Ekiti State, Dr. Ayo Daramola, gave chilling details of how they snuffed life out of the politician in the wee hours of August 14, 2006.
Senior police officers and crime reporters were on Sunday held spell-bound at the Kam Salem House police headquarters in Abuja, as six suspected killers of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) governorship aspirant in Ekiti State, Dr. Ayo Daramola, gave chilling details of how they snuffed life out of the politician in the wee hours of August 14, 2006.
One of the suspects, Olanipekun Taiwo, who admitted being deeply involved in the plot, said that he was contracted by two persons, including Mr. Adegoke Olatunji, personal assistant (PA) to Governor Ayo Fayose, with an offer of N1million and a bus, to murder Daramola.
Taiwo alleged that it took two days of discussion before the deal was eventually sealed, adding that he was given a sum of N25,000 as deposit after which he assured those that hired him that the plot would be neatly executed by himself and one Olu, who was shot dead by the police while attempting to escape arrest.
Although Taiwo emphatically alleged that himself and the late Olu were contracted by two persons, including Adegoke, Fayose's PA, to kill Daramola, the police said his inability to physically point at Adegoke during an identification parade created some doubts in his evidence.
Said he: 'They brought the job for me and Olu. The first day we met in a hotel, they were a little bit afraid of me. On the second day, they came and gave Olu N25,000. They promised us N1million and a bus. I told them we are seven people that will do the job, they said no problem. Mr. Goke met with us and promised us the money".
Giving an account of how the murder was executed, Taiwo further said: 'They took Olu to go and show him Daramola's house, but at that time, the man was not in town. When he came, they contacted us, and I left Akure where I stay, to do the job. We went with two motorcycles, each carrying three persons. When we got close to the house, we parked the motorcycles in a bush and scaled the fence. All the six of us surrounded the security guard and disarmed him. We had two guns when we got there, and added that of the guard which we threw away on our way out".
According to Taiwo, before Daramola finally succumbed to the cruel arms of death, he engaged Olu, the deceased assailant in a tough fight and disarmed him, before other members of the gang came to Olu's rescue and strangled the politician after stabbing him.
However, while admitting to committing the offence, the other suspects who gave their names as Segun Balogun, Busuyi Aladesanmi, Emeka Andrew, Aina Ayorinde Joseph, and Felix Anichukwu, claimed that they were deceived by the duo of Olu and Taiwo, who merely told them that they were going to rob a man who just arrived from London.
'It was Olu who came to me and said one man came from London, that he has money, that we should go and rob him. I didn't know Olu and Taye had collected the contract to kill Daramola. They only promised me money after the job. When Olu shot the gun, it didn't touch Daramola. So, the man gripped Olu, and as they were struggling, the security guard came to stab him, then, they took the knife and stabbed Daramola", said Segun Balogun, who disclosed that he had N2,200 and a mobile phone as his share after the operation.
Inspector General of Police, Mr. Sunday Ehindero, who paraded the six suspects, among others, on Sunday in Abuja, however, said Fayose had not been cleared of alleged complicity in several cases of murder during his reign as Ekiti State governor, even as he said that the ex-governor's whereabouts is still unknown.
'I don't know his whereabouts now. The last time he was seen at his home in Ado-Ekiti, Fayose said he was going on a night vigil and he was driving himself. You don't expect us to just arrest him because as at then, he had immunity, and you can't ask him not to drive himself," Ehindero said.
Commenting on the motives for Daramola's murder, the IGP explained that 'the motives behind the attack had not been fully established as some of the gang members claimed that they went there to rob, while Taiwo claimed that he and Olumide Ojo, now deceased, were commissioned by one Adegoke, the personal assistant to Governor Fayose of Ekiti State. The claim by Taiwo the that attack was politically motivated needs further clarification".
On the murder of Tunde Omojola in May, 2005, also in Ekiti, Ehindero said investigation had revealed that one Chief Dayo Okondo reported to Fayose the negative turn of events at the by-election centre against the PDP and urged him to come in full force.
Said Ehindero: 'A vital witness volunteered statement to state that Adegoke was the first to slap the deceased who was brought on his knees before the governor. Post mortem reports indicate that the deceased died of asphyxia and strangulation".
The IGP further disclosed that 244 suspects were arrested over the murder of another PDP governorship aspirant in Lagos, Funsho Williams, including his political associates, personal aides, four policemen, and others, all of whom have been screened and some released, with 35 suspects still in police net.
A dramatic twist was brought into the case of an alleged ritual killing of an unidentified pregnant woman by suspended Governor Fayose in Ekiti, as the star suspect, Prince Segun Bamiteko claimed that he was induced with money by one Akerele and Mr. Babafemi Ojudu of TheNews magazine, to blackmail and implicate Fayose.
While narrating his role in the whose saga, Bamiteko said: "When we got to Abuja, I told them (police) in my first statement confession, that it was a job of blackmailing. On the fourth day of our being brought here, Mr. Akerele now came. He told me in Yoruba, that this thing, just say it, that it is going to end here. But I now said it is now time for me to tell people the truth. On the day we were to go to the herbalist's place, Yinka gave us N20,000, and Ojudu gave us a car that we will use and a mini tape recorder.
"So they interviewed the herbalist that how does he do it. Meanwhile, they told me that it is just for us to get to the root of the matter, if it was true that Fayose used a pregnant woman for ritual, for the water he was distributing then. The man we met claimed that he was Yinka. We now interviewed the man. We asked him if he can do for us, what he did for Fayose. The man told us that Fayose was an ingrate, that he doesn't compensate people".
Bamiteko further alleged that after meeting with the so-called herbalist, they dropped him at his village and left for Lagos, but it was not long before Ojudu sent for him. However, rather than play along, he told Ojudu that he was through with the game.
His words: "Later, Ojudu sent for me. I now told Ojudu that I think we've got to a certain stage, and I am done with that. That I don't want something that will tarnish my personal image. That I've never been involved in any blackmailing, that they can look for another person. I told the police that the whole thing was a set up, because we wanted to remove Fayose by all means",
However, IGP Ehindero, who disclosed that four suspects including Adegoke Olatunji, PA to Fayose, one Sikiru who is at large, and a 95-year-old native doctor, Pa Adebowale Olarewaju, were arrested and interrogated over the case, said police investigation could neither establish the identity of the woman, nor the place of burial.