Most bizarre act of 2019: Killing of Favour Daley-Oladele

The gruesome murder of a 400-level Theatre Arts student of Lagos State University (LASU), Lagos State, Favour Daley-Oladele, allegedly by her so-called boyfriend, Owolabi Adeeko, his mother, Bola Adeeko and a self acclaimed pastor, Segun Phillips, for ritual purpose, was one of the worst acts of wickedness in 2019.

The victim, a 22 year-old undergraduate, was quite unfortunate because the one she loved and trusted not only betrayed her love and trust but also, allegedly in connivance with two others, cut her life short and turned her dreams of becoming the joy of her family to a nightmare for her people.

Favour was declared missing by her parents on December 8, having left home for an unknown destination. She was said to have told her parents of her intention to visit one of her friends before heading to school, but alas, she never returned to her parents home nor surfaced in the school.

Her boyfriend, whom she visited at Ikoyi-Ile in Osun State,  had a disastrous plan for her. He allegedly drugged her and later smashed her head with a pestle. The self-acclaimed pastor then allegedly dismembered her, harvested her heart, breasts and other organs with which he prepared a get-rich-quick concoction for Adeeko and his mother.

Though ignorant of the fate that had befallen their daughter, her parents were worried that Favour’s whereabouts were unknown the day she was to return to school. To compound their worries, they could not reach her on her mobile phone; they then resolved to report the development to the police.

As soon as the police were intimated, they swung into action and commenced investigation to unravel the mystery surrounding her whereabouts. In the course of their investigation, they discovered that Favour’s phone was being used by somebody.  The telephone line was tracked to a particular location in Osun State, where it was found on Phillips, a white garment church cleric, at Ikoyi-Ile, near Ikire.

The pastor was arrested and he confessed to the crime. He told the detectives how he opened up Favour’s body, removed her throat, breast and other organs in preparing a get-rich-quick concoction for Adeeko and his mother. The boyfriend who was said to have been arrested within the church premises, also confessed to the crime.

In their bid to become wealthy, mother and son had a feast prepared with the organs of another woman’s child. They had no compunction about denying another person the right to life nor did they mind throwing another family into sorrow just for them to have access to what money could provide.

Speaking on how the girl was murdered, the self-acclaimed pastor, Phillips, said he was paid N210,000 to carry out the job on behalf of the Adeekos, having billed them N250,000. In an attempt to justify the gruesome murder of the LASU undergraduate, Phillips said he was lured into considering the offer made by Adeeko as a result of his poor financial status at the time the offer was made.

The pastor, however, claimed that Adeeko’s mother did not know that the concoction was prepared with human parts.

He said, “It is true; I slaughtered Favour with a knife. I was the one, who removed her heart, breasts and other vital organs, so that we could use them for rituals. But I was not the one who smashed her head with a pestle. Owolabi did that.

“Owolabi’s mother was not aware that we used human parts for the concoction I gave her. I prepared the concoction for her and her son because I was broke and I needed money. I demanded N250,000, but I was paid N210,000.”

The remains of Favour were said to have been dumped inside a well by the suspects.

Favour’s father has, however, demanded for justice, saying the perpetrators must be brought to book according to the laws of the land.

Pastor Daley Oladele, who described Favour as the “golden girl” of the family, expressed bitterness over the development.

He said, “The untimely death of Favour has brought sadness into our family. We are yet to come to terms with the reality that the ‘golden girl’ of the family could be taken away at this point in time.

“We were all looking forward to the day she would be mobilised for the National Youth Service Corps, to serve her fatherland. It is so unfortunate that she has to go this way.

“All that the family is asking for is justice. Those behind the killings of my daughter should be made to face the wrath of the law.”

It was gathered that the deceased was the first child of the family and that her parents waited for years before her arrival.

The main suspect, Adeeko, in his confession, said he decided to engage the service of Pastor Phillips to salvage his family from its present economic woes.

According to him, his parents’ state of joblessness and penury forced him into the crime, saying he regretted his action.

“The present economic situation in the country and my family led me into money ritual. My parents are without jobs, and I thought the only solution to end our financial predicament was to make money ritual so that fortune could smile on us.

“My mother was not aware that human parts were used by the pastor as concoction,” the 23 year-old Adeeko said.

The Ogun State Police Public Relations Officer, Abimbola Oyeyemi, said the suspects had been moved to the Homicide Section of the Command in Eleweran, Abeokuta, for further investigation.

Oyeyemi, a Deputy Superintendent of Police, who described the incident as unfortunate, said the suspects would be taken to court upon the completion of investigation by the police.

Meanwhile, the Federal Government, through the National Council for Arts and Culture (NCAC), has condemned the killing of Favour, saying such act is against the Nigerian culture.

The Director General of NCAC, Chief Olusegun Runsewe, in a statement signed by his media aide, Frank Meke, said the trend should be condemned by all well-meaning Nigerians.

The statement reads in part, “The killing of Miss Favour Daley-Oladele, a final-year student of the Lagos State University by her friend and mother for money ritual has nothing to do with the culturally accepted means of money making.

“Killing somebody for money ritual is never a business and has nothing to do with being poor or lacking anything good in life.

“It is a spirit not associated with our people and our way of life.’’

The statement added, “If this goes on unchecked, it will destroy the entire fabric of the family system and the Nigerian culture of love for one another.

“We are not going to allow this to continue and we shall take the battle to various communities and institutions so that we can bring Nigeria back to what it used to be culturally.”