By Micheal Ofulue
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As controversy continues to trail the arrest of a middle age man who was reportedly nabbed for alleged attempt of kidnapping and ritual killing at Orita Obele, Akure, the Ondo State capital, while pretending to be a mad man, the police in the state has said that it is trying to find out more about the suspect’s mental stability by subjecting him to psychiatric test.
With the latest development, the operatives of the special anti-kidnapping squad will soon take the suspect to the psychiatric hospital, seeing that his behaviour since the time he was arrested seems to show that he is mentally sick.
CITY WATCH authoritatively gathered that shortly after the suspect was arrested and handed over to the police by concerned members of the public, the state Commissioner of Police, Mr Olugbenga Adeyanju directed men of the Special Anti-kidnapping Squad (SAKS) to take over the investigation into the circumstances surrounding the arrest of the man who appears insane.
However, a full scale investigation has already begun to unravel the event surrounding the arrest and possibly establish the mission of the suspect simply identified as Mr Bose Oguntoyibo.
According to information gathered, all efforts to extract useful information from him proved abortive.
A woman who witnessed the arrest, but did not want to disclose her name, told CITY WATCH that she believes the suspect is pretending to be mad in order to kidnap or carry out his evil plan.
“We have been suspecting his movement both day and night and that made us raise an alarm and people who came out, apprehended him and handed him over to the police.
Another eyewitness told CITY WATCH that the suspect had an handset with him, but as soon as he observed that people were around to nab him, he immediately brought out his sim card, chewed and swallowed it. He said that act caused people to believe he had an evil plan and that he was in his right senses.
CITY WATCH also learnt that if not for the timely intervention of the police operatives, the suspect would have been lynched by the angry mob who came to the scene.
The State Police Public Relations officer Mr Femi Joseph while speaking with CITY WATCH said, “We cannot blame the concerned members of the public who suspected his movement and consequently arrested him and handed him over to us because there are so many things happening in our world today and everybody has to be security conscious at all times.”
Joseph, however, hinted that the police is determined in ensuring the safety of everybody in the state, adding that effective security is the job for all and sundry just as he urged the general public to always give out useful information necessary to check and curb crime in the state.
The Investigating Police Officer (IPO), who spoke with CITY WATCH under the condition of anonymity said the statements of the suspect were seen to be contradictory and lacked cohesion that it was difficult to understand.
His words: “We have been trying our best to extract information from the suspect but it appears that he is not in his right senses. He said he is from Edo state but later claimed to have come from Ijesa in Osun State. So from all indications the man is mentally insane but a medical expert needs to ascertain that.
“We are security agencies saddled with the responsibility of maintaining law and order. We have to be careful in carrying out our investigations before members of the public will accuse us of releasing a kidnapper suspect”, he said.
During the chat, the suspect, whose behaviour looked as if he is mentally unstable said he is from Ijesa and that his father’s name is Mr Matthew based in Lagos state and that he has two kids.
His words: “My name is Bose Oguntoyinbo. I am from Ijesa.”
On whether he is into kidnapping, he said “No,” but admitted to taking refuge in a church.
He spoke both English and Yoruba fluently while answering questions from CITY WATCH during the interview at the anti-kidnapping office in Alagbaka, Akure.
The PPRO, however, urged the general public to go about their lawful and legitimate duties saying there was no cause for alarm.
It would be recalled that residents at Orita Oba-Ile Housing Estate woke up in the early hours of Monday, August 26 to see a man “disguised” as a mad man loitering around the area and neighbours, who suspected his movement later raised an alarm which attracted passers-by and members of the public.
While some believed that the man had an ulterior motive to commit heinous crime, others believed that the man had a mental disorder and that he had been seen around taking refuge in an undisclosed church.
CITY WATCH’S findings revealed that the suspect, if eventually found to be insane would be released since there is no complainant in the case and at the time of writing this, no report of kidnapping or ritual killing has been made in Akure metropolis.
