The suspected arsonist, Deji Adenuga, who killed eight members of his girlfriend’s family in Igbodigo community of Okitipupa Local Government Area of Ondo State, on Tuesday, said he took the action because her girlfriend, Titi Saanumi, terminated her four-month-old pregnancy without his consent after investing on her and her family.
Adenuga who stated this during his parade at the State Police headquarters in Akure, Ondo State capital, said apart from terminating the pregnancy, he said her lover and one of her sisters, Jumoke, had been duping him almost from the time the relationship started.
According to him, he was provoked and pushed to the wall to commit the crime because Jumoke had been using her sister, Titi, to extort money from him each time they had a misunderstanding.
He said, “each time we had any misunderstanding, she will move to her sister’s place until I can provide money and settle the sister and my wife before allowing her to return to the house.
“I was angry because she aborted my four-month-old pregnancy and failed to return my money to me. The money was N55,000
“Her mother made several efforts to intervene but she refused. It was her sister, Jumoke, whose house I set ablaze, that was behind the whole issue. It was the house of her husband.”
He explained that Jumoke’s husband had been on sick bed for a long time with stroke and they used his money to finance the upkeep of the two homes, saying “I would buy food in the house, my wife would take it to her sister’s house.”
He said: “We lived together in my house. We started our relationship last year. She has no issue for me. The pregnancy was about four months and she aborted the pregnancy.
“I asked her to return my money to me if she was no longer going to marry me. She refused. That’s what caused the fight and they threatened to deal with me if I ever return to ask for the money.”
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He, however, regretted his action, saying he never planned to kill all the member of the family but his lover and her sister.
“I didn’t know all of them were in the room before setting the room ablaze. I used petrol to burn the house. I was angry because they made jest of me and threatened to deal with me if I return to their house.
“I tried to report them to the police but they said police could not do anything to them and that I should be careful or else I would suffer. They provoked me into anger. I then decided to set ablaze where she and her sister lived because I know she left my house for her sister’s place,” he said.
Speaking on the development, the State Commissioner of Police, Mr Undie Adie, said the suspect, Adenuga fled the community after committing the crime but was arrested on last Sunday in Ijebu Ode, Ogun State after an intense manhunt.
He described the suspect as a notorious murderer, saying Adenuga had earlier killed his first wife, known as Abiye, in the year 2000 over domestic issues.
He confirmed that the suspect’s girlfriend was one of the victims of the fire incident saying the woman had been in a critical condition in a hospital.
He said Adenuga had been earlier arrested, arraigned before the court over a murder case in the year 2000, while he was remanded at Olokuta Prison where he escaped with other inmates during a jailbreak in 2013.
Adie, however, said the command would reopen the murder case against the suspect with a view to let him face the full wrath of the law.
The police boss said “recall that on 23/04/2019, at about 02:00hrs, one Deji Adenuga, a.k.a Oluodo’, allegedly set a house ablaze where a family of nine was asleep. His grouse was that one of the family members Titi Sanumi, his former girlfriend jilted him after investing so much on her.
“Eight of the victims of the arson who were mostly children were later confirmed dead, while the only remaining victim who happens to be the girlfriend of the suspect is still in a critical condition in the hospital.”
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