Philip Ogunnaike, a suspected serial killer apprehended in Ogun State, has appealed for the death penalty for himself and his accomplices.
Ogunnaike made the plea in an interrogation video published by Omolola Odutola, the state police public relations officer, on her X page on Monday.
According to the suspect, he was enticed into the killing by Danjuma and others who allegedly initiated him into the unlawful Eiye confraternity.
While encouraging the police to capture Danjuma and other accused accomplices, Ogunnaike insisted that his sole plea was to be put to death when he appeared in court.
“I don’t want anything other than the police to arrest Danjuma and others who initiated me into the Eiye cult. If we get to court, they should not bother hearing our case; they should just go and kill us.
“But before they kill us, they should give me food so that I can eat before they kill me because those that I killed may just have finished eating before I killed them,” he said in Yoruba (now translated).
The 29-year-old suspect was arrested on Friday on suspicion of killing at least three young girls, including an 18-year-old, in separate incidents across the state.
The command added that the suspect’s strategy was to lure his victims into the forest, tie them up, strangle them, and then abandon their bodies after snatching their phones.
According to the command, Ogunnaike fled from the Ibara Correctional Centre around two years ago while being transported to the Magistrate Court in Isabo for an ongoing armed robbery case.
While announcing the arrest on Friday, the command stated that those allegedly killed by him included Akinsanya Habibat (18), Abigail Dina (22) and Mary Ogunyemi (23).
Ogunnaike admitted to killing the three victims and abandoning their bodies in the forest.
He had also led the police anti-kidnapping unit to several areas where the three victims had been slain.
He was accused, along with an accomplice who is still at large, of luring his neighbour’s 23-year-old daughter, Ogunyemi, into a woodland.
They reportedly tied her up, strangled her, and dumped her body after snatching her phone.
The statement added, “On July 3, 2024, at approximately 10 a.m., the late Mary Ogunyemi, a 23-year-old lady, was sent by her mother, Mrs. Ogunyemi Esther, to buy fruits at Adatan from Asero Estate. She was accompanied by the suspect, Philip.
“Philip, a male suspect, was staying with someone in the same compound as the victim. He lured her to a nearby bush in Asero Estate and called in another accomplice to assist him in the kidnapping.
