By The Osun State Police Command says it has arrested five suspects, including a lawyer, Abdulrauf Ogunshola, over the June 21 shooting that killed 14-year-old Olapade Ezekiel in Ilobu, Irepodun Local Government Area.
Command spokesman DSP Abiodun Ojelabi announced the arrests in a statement on Friday, October 16. The other four suspects are Saheed Kareem, also known as Tanfiani, 32; Ismail Yekeen, alias Asumo Ayan, 24; Abass Afeez, alias SS Abass, 32; and Salako Taofeek, alias Fenuso, 30. Ogunshola’s age was not given.
According to police, gunmen arrived in a Sienna bus at about 3:30 p.m. and opened fire at a palm-wine shop on Council Road, near the Irepodun Local Government headquarters. Ezekiel, who was at the shop with his father and other customers, was shot dead. Another man, Matthew John, alias “Mofoto,” was wounded.
Police say all five suspects confessed to taking part in the attack. They say the other four named Taofeek as the shooter, and that Taofeek in turn named a fugitive known as “Alaagba” as the gang’s armourer and the keeper of the gun. Officers are searching for him.
The boy’s father, Olugbenga Olapade, reported the shooting at the Ilobu Police Division at about 5 p.m. the same day. Police say the suspects spent months on the run before they were arrested.
The command says its investigation is professional and impartial, and that it will rely on forensic findings and credible evidence to establish each suspect’s role.
Efforts to get Ogunshola’s reaction to the police allegations were unsuccessful. A call to his phone number did not connect, and a WhatsApp message sent to him had not been delivered at the time of filing this report.
