The Lagos State Police Command says it has arrested a pastor with the Celestial Church of Christ (CCC), Ejiro Ologonla, over the disappearance of a man, Olatunfe Anthony Oluwafemi.
Ologonla, 45, was said to be the last person seen with Oluwafemi, 29, at the Oniru beach, Lagos, when the latter disappeared in December 2019.
Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO) in Lagos, DSP Bala Elkana disclosed this in a statement over the weekend.
The police spokesman said that detectives tracked the suspect for months before his arrest.
Elkana’s statement read, “On December 20, 2019, at about 10.30 am, the police received a complaint that on December 12, at about 1.40 pm, Olatunfe Anthony Oluwafemi, 29, of 27 Owode Street, Alapere Ketu, who was sent on an errand to Ilupeju has not returned and his whereabouts remained unknown. All efforts made by his family members to trace him were unsuccessful.
“The Itel phone of the missing person was electronically analysed by police forensic experts and that led to the arrest of the user of the phone, a female, Monsurat Gbadegeshin, 23.
“In her statement, she said her fiancé Abiodun Abiola gave her the phone. That led the operatives to apprehend the said Abiodun Abiola, 30.
“During questioning, Abiodun said Tolu Olurotimi, 20, sold the phone to him, thereby leading the operatives to him.
“Tolu Rotimi said he bought the phone from Pastor Ejiro Ologonla, 45, a Celestial Church pastor from Delta State but based in Lagos.
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“During questioning, Pastor Ologonla, said he was at Oniru beach for spiritual cleansing on that fateful day, when he met the missing Oluwafemi.
“He stated that while he was at the beach, the missing person who appeared drunk came in and started chasing people around.
“At a point, he saw him climbing a fisherman boat. Later he saw the missing person pulling his clothes, shoes, dropped his phones and jumped into the sea.
“He claimed that he informed the security men on guard-duty at the beach and also called a police officer as well as one princess Arike Oniru on phone to intimate them of the incident.
“He claimed that he finally picked up the victim’s clothes, shoes, phone, and sold the phone to Olurotimi, N1,500.
“The Oniru beach security guards, the fishermen, the Princess, and other witnesses mentioned were invited for questioning.”
The fisherman confirmed that while paddling out to sea, he was informed that a man, Oluwafemi, was hanging on his boat.
He said that the missing person appeared to be drunk, so he paddled back to shore, dropped him, and promised to bring fish for him from the sea.
The fisherman added that when he returned from his fishing trip the following day, the man was nowhere to be seen.
The Princess confirmed that the pastor called to inform her that somebody had jumped into the sea and she told him to report the matter at the nearest police station.
But the security guards on duty at the beach on that fateful day denied a report of anyone jumping into the sea.
Elkana said it is established that the missing person was at Oniru beach on the day of the incident.
However, he said that the pastor was the last person that had contact with the victim, who has not been confirmed to be either dead or alive.
According to him, circumstantial evidence gathered in the disappearance of Oluwafemi points towards the pastor.
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The police spokesman disclosed that the Pastor did not just sell the phone belonging to the missing person, he also converted the money he found in the trouser of the missing person to his own use.
He added that there is no record showing that Ologonla reported the incident to any Police Station.
Elkana said that the Commissioner of Police, Hakeem Odumosu, has ordered the immediate transfer of the case to the State Criminal Investigation Department (CID) Yaba for further investigation and diligent prosecution.