The man in police custody for allegedly killing Oba Gbadebo Ogunsakin, the Onise of Odo Oro in Ikole Local Government Area of Ekiti State, Mr. Ademola Omoniyi, has told newsmen that he committed the crime and that he did it for a purpose.

Omoniyi, who was paraded by the Ekiti State police command headquarters in Ado Ekiti, on Friday, claimed in his confession that he murdered Oba Ogunsakin so that he could reclaim the throne of Onise of Odo Oro.

The suspect said: “The crown didn’t belong to Oba Ogunsakin because the town, last year, declared vacancy owing to the death of our Oba. They said our Oba was dead and my family nominated me to take over only for him to resurface again and said he remained the Oba.

“Last year December, my family nominated me for the throne and since then, I have been trying to take over. That day when I got to the palace, it was the late Oba that first attacked me and I attacked him back which led to his death.”

Omoniyi had fled the community after allegedly committing the murder but was arrested at a location in Ado Ekiti, the state capital.

The suspect, who was initially claimed to be mentally unbalanced, had spoken coherently and eloquently, and had showed no sign of remorse for the alleged crime.

The Commissioner of Police, Ekiti State, Mr. Bello Ahmed, who briefed newsmen, said: “I am not a medical expert to know who is mentally unstable or not. But the fact remains that, how could a lunatic commit murder and ran over 100 kilometres from the scene of the incident?

So, commonsense dictates that he must have known what he was doing to have run from that town to Ado Ekiti.”

• ‘Our father’s killer not a madman’ ― Family of Ekiti Monarch

The immediate family of Oba Ogunsakin had also denied that the suspect had mental issues, and alleged that the killing of their father was premeditated.

A daughter of the late monarch, Taiwo Daramola, said in an interview that the suspect was “well known in the community and he is not a member of our branch of the royal family.”

Also during the exercise, the police paraded 25 other suspects that they said were arrested for offences of murder and cultism, including Mr. Toyin Ajakaye, who allegedly  hanged a commercial motorcyclist in his farm in Agbado Ekiti in Gbonyin Local Government Area of the state, on Wednesday.

Ahmed also stated that his men were closing in on the killers of Mr. Bunmi Ojo, a chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the state, killed by yet to be identified gunmen on August 10.

Ahmed said: “We are on the trail of the killers, we have reached advanced stage.”

Some suspects had been arrested and they are helping the police. Efforts are being intensified  and we shall feed the public with the right information  when we are ready to charge them to court.

Ahmed  added that the 16 suspects arrested for allegedly belonging to banned secret societies had confessed their memberships of the secret cults, saying they will be charged to court soon.

He revealed that  dangerous weapons like: one cut-to-size gun , one cartridge , criminal charms, Toyota Camry Car with Registration number FKJ 912 DEK , one kitchen knife and one cutlass were recovered from the suspected cultists.

The Ekiti police boss the command will continue to intensify efforts to ensure that criminals have no hidden place in the state.

The Onise of Odo Oro, Oba Gbadebo Ogunsakin, who was enthroned in 1986, was stabbed to death in the his palace on Monday.

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