A fruit trader, Dolapo Babalola, has been arrested by the Ondo State Police Command for killing his childhood friend, Evangelist Opeyemi Oyelakin, stealing his motorcycle and dumping his corpse in a pit.
Babalola, 39, was said to have committed the act at Oke-Igbo Road in Oke-Igbo/Ile-Oluji Local Government Area of Ondo State.
The suspect, who spoke to reporters after he was arrested by police detectives in the state, said he sold the stolen motorcycle for N130,000 after killing his friend.
He named one Sikiru Mutiu, who is now on the run, as his accomplice.
He said, “It is the work of the devil, I can’t explain because this person that we are talking about was my close friend. Truly, his bike is not the first bike I would steal but I have never killed before. Even those that are not related to me, I snatched the bike from them and did not harm them but this one is just a coincidence.
“We sold this motorbike for N130,000 and we shared the money equally because we were two in the business. When we wanted to collect the bike from him, he struggled with us and I hit him with stone. I know his mum and younger brother.
“I can’t explain why I killed him. I am a trader, I sell oranges but I don’t have a shop. I do go to villages to buy oranges. I am from Oyo State, but resides in Ondo town. I’m yet to marry and this would be the first time I would come to this area. I have been in the business since 2021.”
On the incident, the state police commissioner, Abayomi Oladipo, who led detectives and medical personnel to evacuate the decomposing body of the deceased from the pit where it was dumped in the bush, frowned that farm owners where the corpse was dumped failed to alert the police despite the stench in the area for days.