Favour Daley-Oladele, a 400-level undergraduate of the Department of Theatre Arts, Lagos State University, was gruesomely murdered allegedly by one Owolabi Adeeko; his mother, identified simply as Mrs Adeeko; and the pastor of a white garment church, Segun Philip, in the Ikoyi-Ile area of Osun State.

It was gathered that the victim, after a short visit to her parents in the Mowe area of Ogun State, departed for school on December 8, 2019, but while on her way, she went to see Owolabi, said to be her boyfriend, at an undisclosed location.

Owolabi reportedly lured Favour to the Ikoyi-Ile area around Apomu and Ikire, Osun State, where he allegedly connived with his mother and Philip to kill and use the 22-year-old’s body parts for money ritual.

When they got to Ikoyi-Ile, it was learnt that Owolabi took the victim to the Fortress Hotel, where he allegedly drugged her and brought her to Philip’s church and used a pestle to smash her head while she was asleep.

Immediately after perpetrating the act, Philip was alleged to have used a knife to slit Favour’s throat.

The self-styled pastor reportedly ripped Favour’s chest open, removed her heart and used it to prepare a concoction for Owolabi and his mother to eat.

The concoction was said to be part of the rituals to boost the financial standing of Owolabi and his mother.

Favour’s sudden disappearance and the inability to communicate with her had become a source of concern to her parents, whose efforts to trace her to LASU and her hostel off the campus proved abortive.

The deceased’s father, Pastor David Daley-Oladele, said a case of a missing person was later reported to the police, who tracked her mobile phone’s location to Ikoyi-Ile.

While demanding justice for his daughter, David said the suspects, after perpetrating the crime, buried Favour’s remains in front of the church.

He stated, “She came home for a short visit and was to go back to school for her final examination. But while at home, she received a phone call from an anonymous person and told us that she would be seeing a friend on her way to school. But when it got late, I called her phone, but it was unreachable; her mother could also not contact her.

“On Monday and Tuesday, she didn’t call, and her number was still not going through, so, we went to search for her in school and her hostel, but she was nowhere to be found. I also went to hospitals and mortuaries to search for her but did not see her, so, I went to report at the Mowe Police Station.

“It was from the police station that a tracker traced her phone to Ikoyi-Ile in Osun State and we all mobilised to the place. The location looks like a jungle, and the church was inside a very thick bush; the suspects were arrested. I saw a black Honda parked on the church premises and also where they buried my daughter in front of the church.

“I want justice. My wife is seriously ill; I had to rush her to the Biobatam Hospital in Iyana Ipaja, Lagos. Her illness is because of stress and as a result of what happened. This is a trying time for me.”

David wife’s sister, Peygo Ogu, explained, “My sister’s condition is critical. She had been ill before the incident, but what happened to her daughter compounded her condition.”

The Police Public Relations Officer, Ogun State, Abimbola Oyeyemi, said three suspects had been arrested, adding that the state Commissioner of Police, Kenneth Ebrimson, had transferred the case to the Homicide Section of the State Criminal Investigation and Intelligence Department for proper investigation.

Oyeyemi stated, “The deceased was reported to have left home to an unknown destination since Sunday, December 8, 2019, and had not been seen since then. Hence she was reported missing by her parents at the Mowe Police Station. Upon the report, the DPO, Mowe Division, Marvis Jayeola, detailed his crack detectives to unravel the mystery behind Favour’s sudden disappearance.

“The detectives went into a full-scale technical and forensic investigation of the case, and their efforts paid off when the movement of the deceased was traced to a white garment church in far away Ikoyi-Ile in Osun State.

“Segun Philip was shepherding the church, and on getting to the church, the self-acclaimed pastor was promptly arrested, but he was quick to inform the detectives that the girl was brought to him by her boyfriend, Owolabi Adeeko, who was still within the vicinity of the church. The said boyfriend was traced and apprehended.

“On interrogation, Owolabi Adeeko confessed to the police that the deceased was his girlfriend and that he lured her to Ikoyi-Ile, where he had perfected plans with the so-called pastor Segun Philip to use her for money rituals. He stated further that while the girl was sleeping, the pastor gave him a pestle with which he used to smash her head, and the pastor quickly used a knife to cut off her neck, ripped open her chest and removed her heart, which he used in preparing a concoction for him and his mother to eat.”

Oyeyemi explained that Owolabi, during interrogation, confessed to having perpetrated the crime to boost his family’s financial state, adding that Philip demanded a human being for the rituals.

The PPRO stated, “When asked what pushed him into such a devilish act, Owolabi explained that he decided to go into money rituals because things were not going well with his parents, especially his mother, who is the breadwinner of the family; and when he sought assistance from the pastor, he was asked to bring a human being for that purpose and the only available person at that time was his girlfriend.

“Meanwhile, the Commissioner of Police, Kenneth Ebrimson, has ordered the immediate transfer of the suspects to the Homicide Section of the SCIID for proper investigation. Ebrimson, who described the gruesome murder of the deceased as a high degree of wickedness, vowed to ensure that the suspects face the full wrath of the law.”

Some LASU students, who were shocked by Favour’s death, are demanding justice for their late school mate.

A Twitter user, @Lasu_PR, who chronicled the circumstances surrounding Favour’s death, alleged that Owolabi was an ex-student of the institution and met the victim two months ago.

He tweeted, “We need to appreciate the good work of the investigating officers but what is most troublesome is that the duo of Owolabi Adeeko and Prophet Segun Philip were boasting.”

The Coordinator, Centre for Information, Press and Public Relations, LASU, Ademola Adekoya, said in a statement that the Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Olanrewaju Fagbohun, had called for calm among the undergraduates, stating that law enforcement agents were on top of the matter.

The statement read in part, “The university management hereby commiserates with the parents and other family members of the deceased, Favour Dailey-Oladele, the staff and students of the department and the entire university community. The police have assured us that justice will be served in this case as the perpetrators of this heinous crime will be charged immediately the investigation is concluded.

“The vice-chancellor, on behalf of the university management, at this moment calls for caution on this issue on the part of students and requests that they remain calm to allow law enforcement agents to conclude their work. He assured all that the university will continue to monitor the case.”

Also reacting, the President, Students’ Union Government, LASU, Oluwatayo Oladele, said, “We want justice for Favour; my executive and I have visited the family members of the deceased, and we also visited the police station handling the case to get some information regarding the ongoing investigation.”

When one of our correspondents contacted the Osun State Police Command on Sunday, it said the Ogun command was handling the matter.

The spokesperson for the command, Folasade Odoro, said in a text message in response to enquiries on the case, “Call Ogun PPRO for details; thanks.”