Matthew Onocheta
ABEOKUTA, Nigeria – A man has been arrested on suspicion of killing at least three young girls, including an 18-year-old, in separate incidents in Nigeria’s southwestern state of Ogun, police said.
Ogunnaike Philip, 29, is a suspected serial killer who escaped from the Ibara Correctional Centre about two years ago while being taken to the Magistrate Court in Isabo for an ongoing armed robbery case, the Ogun State Police Command said.
It said the suspect’s method was to lure his victims into the forest, where he would tie them up, strangle them, and then abandon their bodies after stealing their phones.
The state police command revealed that the victims of Philip’s crimes included 18-year-old Akinsanya Habibat, 22-year-old Abigail Dina, and 23-year-old Mary Ogunyemi.
In a statement released late Friday by spokeswoman Omolola Odutola, it was revealed that Philip had confessed to killing the three victims and leaving their bodies in the forest.
Following his confession, the suspect led the police’s anti-kidnapping team to multiple locations where the three victims were murdered.
According to the police, a 22-year-old nurse Dina left her home at 8:10 am on May 6, 2024, in Iyana Egbado, Ewekoro Local Government, to head to her workplace at Sodipo Medical Centre in Itori, when she was abducted by the suspect and taken to an unknown forest in Itori.
“The kidnapper stole an iPhone XR from the victim and then strangled her to death. Subsequently, he contacted her family by phone and demanded a ransom of N50,000.
“Afterward, the suspect abandoned her body in the forest. Ogunnaike Philip, a male suspect, was arrested in connection with the case and confessed to committing the crime.
“The suspect confessed that he fled to Saki town in Oyo State, where he exchanged the stolen iPhone XR for an Infinix Hot 10 and received a cash sum of N65,000,” the police statement read.
Philip, along with an accomplice who is currently at large, was accused of luring his neighbour’s 23-year-old daughter, Ogunyemi, to a forest. They allegedly tied her up, strangled her, and abandoned her body after stealing her phone.
“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.
“The victim was bound with rope and robbed of an iPhone S. Ogunnaike Philip and his accomplice jointly strangled her to death. The two criminals later contacted the victim’s mother by phone and demanded a ransom of seventeen thousand naira.
“The duo abandoned the corpse of the victim inside the bush and fled to Badagry, Lagos State, to sell off the stolen iPhone S at the rate of N8,000,” the statement said.
The state police command stated that the suspect was responsible for the death of his employer’s 18-year-old daughter Akinsanya in an incident that took place at Mile 6, Abeokuta, on August 30, 2024, around 5 pm.
Philip allegedly kidnapped the victim, raped her, and then strangled her to death with a rope on her father’s farm in the community.
He later called the parents to demand a ransom before fleeing the scene.
“The father received a phone call on his daughter Habibat Akinsanya’s phone, informing him that she, aged 18, had been kidnapped and that he needed to pay a ransom of one million naira for her release.
“The victim’s father subsequently paid N30,000 to the Moniepoint account number given by the kidnapper. Later, her body was discovered on her father’s farmland in Obasa village, Mile 6, Abeokuta, Ogun State, along with her PoS machine found beside her.
“The suspect admitted that the victim’s father employed him and was working on the farm when he saw the victim passing by. He lured her to the farm and then tied her legs with rope,” the police statement added.