BY ABISOYE JOHNSON
THE Ogun State Police Command has arrested a 20-year-old herbalist over the murder of Jimoh Bello, owner of a popular hotel in the Owode-Yewa area of the state.
The arrest of the suspect, identified as Misipode Dosu, came with unsavoury revelations about what transpired between Bello and the suspect before the former’s death about seven months ago.
The popular hotelier was found dead in the boot of his Toyota Camry car on May 29, 2020, which his killer parked at Omo-Ilu Owotedo, after residents noticed the offensive odour from the car, and reported the case at the Idiroko Police Divisional Headquarters.
Police Public Relations Officer in the state, DSP Abimbola Oyeyemi, who confirmed the arrest of the suspect in a statement on Thursday, said, “When the police got to the scene, the car door was forced open and the corpse of the deceased was discovered in the boot of the car.
“The case was subsequently transferred to the Homicide Section of the State Criminal Investigation and Intelligence Department for discreet investigation with a clear mandate to fish out the killers.”
He said the CSP Femi Olabode-led team embarked on intelligence and technical-based investigation, which led them to the “arrest of a 20-year-old herbalist, Misipode Dosu, who happened to be the last person that was seen with the deceased.”
According to him, during interrogation, the suspect confessed that the deceased contracted him for a money-making ritual, for which he billed him the sum of N300,000, but that the victim paid N250,000.
The PPRO said the suspect added that after some time, the victim started pressuring him that he had not seen the positive outcome of the ritual.
He said, “Out of fear that the deceased might report him to the police for obtaining money from him under false pretences, he invited him to come for the final stage of the ritual at Idiroko.
“On getting there, he gave him a concoction prepared with a poisonous substance to eat and the man slumped and died immediately he ate the concoction.
“The suspect there and then put the deceased into the boot of his car, drove the car and parked it at the place where the corpse was recovered.”
The state Commissioner of Police, Edward Ajogun, has directed that the suspect be arraigned as soon as the investigation is concluded, according to the PPRO.
