The suspect, who spoke boldly and seemed not afraid of the worst judgment to be delivered on his case by a court of law, however, said that he would choose a decent path of life if opportune to come in the next world. As if he had already accepted that he would be killed for committing murder, Philip also said that he has a particular food he would like to take before the execution of the judgment, promising to reveal it when the time comes.
Philip, aged 29, was arrested by Ogun State Police Command for allegedly kidnapping, raping and robbing before killing his victims.
The late victims included Dina Abigail, aged 22; Ogunyemi Mary, 23 years old; and Akinsanya Abibat, aged 18.
Exhibits recovered from him included iPhone XR, iPhone 11, Infinix Hot 10 phone, Moniepoint POS machine and two black ropes.
Briefing journalists on the incident last weekend during a visit to the crime scenes, the Commissioner of Police, Abiodun Alamutu, said that at about 8:10 a.m. on May 26, 2024, Abigail, a nurse, left her home at Iyana Egbado in Ewekoro Local Government Area of the state to her workplace at Sodipo Medical Centre, Itori, but was kidnapped and taken to a forest in the same area.
“Philip robbed the victim of her iPhone XR and strangulated her to death. The kidnapper later contacted the victim’s family on phone and collected the sum of N50,000 as ransom after abandoning the corpse in the forest.
“He confessed that he fled to Saki town in Oyo State, and swapped the stolen iPhone XR with Infinix Hot 10 and got N65,000 payment for it,” the police commissioner stated.
The police boss said that also on July 3, at about 10 a.m., Mary was sent on errand by her mother, Mrs Ogunyemi Esther to go and buy fruits for her at Adatan from Asero Estate.
The suspect who was squatting with someone in the same compound with the victim accompanied her and reportedly lured her to a nearby bush at Asero Estate where his accomplice, later known as Danjuma and currently at large, was hiding.
Mary was tied with rope and robbed of her iPhone, after which Philip and his accomplice jointly strangled her to death.
The two suspects later contacted the victim’s mother on phone and collected N17,000 as ransom. They were said to have abandoned the victim’s corpse in the bush and fled to Badagry, Lagos State to sell off the stolen iPhone for N8,000.
On August 30, 2024, at about 5 p.m., Philip was on the prowl again as he made the daughter of his guardian/employer, Abibat, another victim.
It was learnt that the matter was reported to the police by the deceased’s father, Mr Akinsanya Shamsudeen of Mile 6, Abeokuta, who said that he received a call through his daughter’s phone that she had been kidnapped.
The father said that he was asked to pay a ransom of N1 million for her release, but was only able to pay N30,000 into the Moniepoint account number provided by the kidnapper.
Sadly, the teenager’s corpse was later found inside her father’s farm at Obasa Village, Mile 6, Abeokuta, with her Moniepoint POS machine by her side.
It was further gathered that after the suspect’s arrest and subsequent confessions to the crimes, he led a team of police Anti-kidnapping tean to various locations where the three victims were killed.
Further investigation revealed that the suspect escaped from Ibara Correctional Centre about two years ago where he was remanded by the Magistrates’ Court in Isabo, concerning a case of armed robbery.
Addressing journalists at the spot where one of the bodies was found, CP Alamutu said: “We will change our security strategy by creating environment where we include all stakeholders, particularly the mosque, the church, and religious leaders to do more of sensitisation.
“This is because a situation where a 29-year-old person can be so heartless to carry out such killings is so disturbing. Unfortunately, these victims were innocent young ladies.
“He used to work with the father of the third victim. He was already familiar with the family. He knew when the girl would be sent to the farm. He strangulated her there and collected her phone to get a ransom.
“We can understand the agony of the family of the deceased because it is not easy to see the carcass of one’s relative without any justifiable reason. However, jungle justice is never the solution.
“The law has to take its course but I believe we need to make this known to the general public so that our youths will be reminded that the only way to success is hard work.”
He said that the reason behind going to the scenes of the crime was to perfect the investigation, as it forms part of what is needed by the court to eventually arrive at the judgment.
The commissioner of police added that the suspect would be charged to court for kidnapping, murder and conspiracy.
Giving vivid details into the three murders to Sunday Tribune, the 29-year-old suspect, who hails from Aiyepe area of Ogun State, said: “I learnt how to repair motorcycles and generators. I attended primary and secondary schools.
“It is true I committed murder and also collected my victims’ phones for sale. I killed two people alone while I was joined by an accomplice, popularly known as Danjuma, to kill one more person.”
The first killing
“It was Abigail. We met along a path. I presented myself as a seer and deceived her into believing that she had aura that would attract men. She asked what she would do and I told her that she would follow me into the bush to cut some leaves.
“Inside the bush, I held her neck tightly and told her to open her phone with her password. I threatened to kill her if she did not. She didn’t open it fully so I collected it from her and used rope to tie her hands. I killed her thereafter.
“I went to Saki to swap her phone with that of someone else. I killed her along Itori about three or four months ago. One of her relatives called and I told the family to pay some money as a ransom; they sent N50,000,” he narrated.
Second victim
“I killed the second person called Mary, a neighbour to one Aunty Saida. I saw Saida coming from work with her bag hung on her shoulder. She greeted me and I followed her at her request. She opened up on an issue she was having with a relative with whom she was living in the same place, to the point that she was beaten by one of relative’s family member called Mary. She asked me not to respond to their greetings. She asked me to move far from them.
“I spent about four days in her apartment. On my second day there, I saw Mary whom she mentioned and we greeted each other. Her elder sister, Rachael, also related with me well that I even gave her N2,000 when the family didn’t have money to buy something to eat. We all ate the meal together.
“Rachael later told me that she wanted to pay her school fees and inwardly, I wondered why she would ask me for help when she could see that I was dependent on an older person to survive by coming to stay with her. However, I had noticed a phone with Mary. I deceived her into believing that paper could be turned to money. She said that she would tell her mother. She did and the mother agreed with what I said I would do to bring money. I told her that we would go and get some herbs. Rachael wanted to be the one to follow me, but because I had targeted the phone Mary had, I asked her to go with me instead.
“Before leaving, Rachael had cut paper into pieces in Nigerian currency shape. She wrote N1,000 on each. Their mother gave us N3,000 to buy other ingredients to add to the herbs for me to change paper to money; Mary kept them.
“As we talked, I was thinking of a quiet, bushy place to take Mary to because the area they were living in was like an estate and very open. So, I told the family to give me some days to prepare. I saw one guy known as Danjuma and told him about what I intended doing. I knew him as a cultist and hard guy who used to snatch phones. He directed me to a bushy area.
“On the day we went there, Danjuma had already hidden in the bush, unknown to Mary. I was going round the bush with her as if searching for the leaves needed.
“Suddenly, Danjuma came out of the bush and held Mary’s neck tightly because she was very stubborn. I didn’t intend to kill her but was pushed into it by Danjuma. I just saw him bring out a rope which he used to tie her hands and then strangulated her. Mary didn’t tell us the phone password but I knew it because she had opened it once in my presence.
“We left the place and a call came in on her phone. It was her sister, Rachael. I told her how things went, mocking her on her greed in trying to get money from paper. I told her that my name is not Taiwo as I made all of them to believe in the house, including Aunty Saida. I asked her if I would not be a rich person if I knew how to do it. Rachael started crying, cursing herself.
“I didn’t tell her that Mary was dead. I asked for ransom and the deceased’s boyfriend sent N7,000 and Danjuma kept it. Mary’s sibling also sent N10,000, but by then, we were already at Sango Town on Abeokuta-Lagos road. Danjuma collected the N17,000 and asked me to get my share from the sale of the phone. I sold it for N80,000,” he explained.
Third victim
“I went to Mile 6 in Abeokuta one day to pray in a mosque despite not being a Muslim. I went to a man that I needed a job and he offered me farm work. One morning, I went to the farm to clear it. I stayed there longer than usual so that I would finish the work. She came there and said that the family was concerned about my late return. Then, I saw her bring out of her bag a Point of Sale (POS) machine to check the time.
“I moved nearer her, held her neck and raped her. After that, I tied her hands, held her neck tightly again and removed SIM card from the machine. I took the SIM card to Panseke area in Abeokuta where bad boys used to stay and put it in a phone one of them was holding. Shortly after, a call came in. His father called and I told him to send money to me. After pleading that he didn’t have much, he sent N30,000. I stayed on the street at Panseke overnight after giving the boys some money,” he recounted.
Fourth victim molested
“Very early in the morning, I went to board Ibadan-bound vehicle. I got down at Iwo Road and decided to flow with street boys there. When I didn’t find it easy, I made up my mind to return to Abeokuta. I saw a lady in the vehicle I boarded who was calling different men. I had wanted to get down at another point but when I saw her disembarking, I got down and spoke to her as if I had seen a vision concerning her.
“She accepted my words and said she needed money from men. She said she was a makeup artist and needed about N500,000 to buy some things. She said that she came to see one of her boyfriends. I told her to buy a sachet of water which I would touch with Ajé (object of fortune) I was moving about with. It was a deceit as I just bought that thing in the past with the thought that I would use it to con people.
“She followed me to a bush side. She plucked a leaf that I pointed to her, opened her phone and started mentioning names of men she had stored in there. Suddenly, I grabbed her neck but told her that I was not going to kill her. She was so afraid but I told her she was like me; that we were both criminals.
“I told her to sit down and she did. I sat beside her. I told her to remove her dress, after which I slept with her. She was calm after that, and I told her to unlock her phone. She removed the password and gave it to me. I told her to remove her dress again, collected it and left. However, I dropped it along the way. I didn’t want to kill again; I had intended to go somewhere to settle down and take care of myself. Their initial killings were as a result of anger when they didn’t unlock their phones quickly,” he said.
Stint in prison
“I did not steal before I landed in prison. They lied against me that I robbed and snatched money from someone. But that was not my lifestyle then. I spent a year and a half there in remand before I regained freedom through court.
“The prison warden warned me not to go where I was arrested, so I avoided my parents’ home at Rounda area. I was just wandering around. Suddenly, I heard from someone that my father’s house had been set ablaze. My parents died while the robbery case was going on in court, so I was surprised that such a thing could be done even after their demise. I learnt that people said I raped a lady and killed her. I knew the girl truly, and I knew her father. She didn’t do anything that warranted her killing.
“It is true my photo was posted and I was declared wanted, but I had become haggard looking that I was hardly recognisable. It is also true that I used different names wherever I lived. I committed so much crime because of greed and bad influence of friends.”
My decision
“I want police to also arrest others who worked with me, particularly the Eiye Confraternity members that forced me to take them on okada to places without payment. We should all be killed, but before I will be killed, I would want to eat a sumptuous meal.
“We should never be released, because if that should be done, some of us would commit the crime all over again. I want to come in another world because I’m tired of my misdemeanours. I’m so pained the way my father’s house was set ablaze.
“Youths should learn from my confession. One thing is that if they do as I did, they would also end up like me. Danjuma is a cultist and has a gun.”
Families of more victims came forward
In an update, Sunday Tribune learnt that families of other ladies who had been Philip’s victims showed up immediately after they learnt of his arrest and confession. They exposed how he killed their relatives and escaped before nemesis caught up with him.
By then, the suspect knew he could not hide his crimes again and began to speak on how he killed two ladies in Ekiti State. He gave their names as Taiwo and Seun. He disclosed how he also deceitfully lured them to the bush to pluck leaves to make charm for them to get money easily from men.
He confessed: “In Aramoko Ekiti, I met one of my victims, Seun, on the way and deceived her like I did to others. I told her that she possessed a spirit and could get money from men easily. She followed me to a bushy area to pluck the leaves to be used for the charm she would use.
“When we got to a place, I told her to kneel down and pluck the leaves. As she did, I quickly grabbed her neck. She struggled with me and when I noticed that she was strong, I calmed her down and told her that I was only carrying out the ritual process. I tied her hands, asked her to use password to open her phone. When she did, I held her neck again and strangled her to death and took her phone and some money found on her.
“About the second lady, Taiwo, I told her the same story and her mother knew of it. When we got to a bushy place, I raped her before strangulating her. I saw that she did not come with her phone and went back to her house to pick the phone but saw a man there. I left the place and the town that day.
“It is true that I also killed a girl at Rounda in Abeokuta where my father had his house. I collected phone from Kaosara too and killed her.
“In Lagos State, one Aisha started dating a young man, Michael, whom she knew through me. We both raped her and she died. I ran away to Epe.”
How he escaped from prison
He also admitted escaping from prison when he was initially arrested, but said he was involved in cult clash and not armed robbery for which he was charged to court.
“I was among cultists fighting at Rounda then but was arrested for armed robbery. I was charged to court and remanded in prison. After incarceration for about one and a half years, I was taken to court. The complainants did not appear except a woman who said she was robbed.
“After the hearing of the case that day, I was to be taken into court cell. On our way there, I was without handcuffs and was wearing slippers. While the prison warden was busy talking, I noticed that he was distracted and I ran off and escaped through the gate. The gateman was engaged in something else,” the suspect said.
He added: “My father was a pastor but I knew how to pray in Islamic way and call people to prayer. I also have good voice and I am very good at singing.
“I believe that I became a bad boy after I behaved rudely to an Alfa. I poured skuchies (drugged drink) on him. He placed curses on me but I didn’t count his action until when I later started reflecting on my weird character. I also smoked marijuana.”
