THE Ogun State Police Command has apprehended a 29-year-old man named Ogunnaike Philip, suspected of murdering at least three young girls, including an 18-year-old, in different incidents throughout the state.
According to the command, Philip lured his victims into the forest, where he would restrain them, strangle them, and then leave their bodies behind after stealing their mobile phones.
Investigations indicated that Philip is a suspected serial killer who escaped from the Ibara Correctional Centre about two years ago while being escorted to the Magistrate Court in Isabo for an ongoing armed robbery case.
In a statement released yesterday, the command identified the victims as 18-year-old Akinsanya Habibat, 22-year-old Abigail Dina, and 23-year-old Mary Ogunyemi.
Philip reportedly confessed to killing the three women and disposing of their bodies in the forest. Following his confession, he directed the police’s anti-kidnapping team to several locations where the murders occurred.
The police detailed that on May 6, 2024, nurse Abigail Dina, aged 22, left her home in Iyana Egbado, Ewekoro Local Government, around 8:10 am to go to Sodipo Medical Centre in Itori when she was kidnapped by Philip and taken to a secluded forest.
The statement noted, “The kidnapper stole an iPhone XR from her before strangling her to death, and later he contacted her family to demand a ransom of N50,000.”
Afterward, Philip abandoned her body in the forest. He was arrested in connection with the case and confessed to the crime, admitting that he fled to Saki town in Oyo State, where he exchanged the stolen iPhone XR for an Infinix Hot 10 and received N65,000 in cash.
Additionally, Philip, along with an accomplice who is still at large, was charged with the abduction and murder of his neighbor’s 23-year-old daughter, Ogunyemi. They allegedly tied her up, strangled her, and left her body behind after stealing her phone.
The statement continued, “On July 3, 2024, around 10 a.m., Mary Ogunyemi, 23, was sent by her mother, Mrs. Ogunyemi Esther, to purchase fruits at Adatan from Asero Estate. Philip, who had been staying in the same compound, lured her to a nearby bush in Asero Estate and enlisted another accomplice to assist in the kidnapping.”
The victim was bound and robbed of an iPhone S; both Philip and his accomplice then strangled her to death. They later contacted her mother to demand a ransom of N17,000 before abandoning her body in the bush and fleeing to Badagry, Lagos State, where they sold the stolen iPhone S for N8,000.
The police noted that Philip was also responsible for the death of his employer’s 18-year-old daughter, Akinsanya, in an incident that occurred on August 30, 2024, at Mile 6, Abeokuta, at around 5 p.m. He allegedly kidnapped and raped her before strangling her on her father’s farm.
Philip called the parents to demand a ransom before fleeing the scene. The command reported, “Her father received a call on his daughter Habibat Akinsanya’s phone, stating she was abducted 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 provided 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 nearby.
The suspect confessed that he was employed by the victim’s father and was working on the farm when he saw her passing by; he lured her to the farm and tied her up before the crime.
