Controversy has surrounded the death of one Rasaki Balogun and a yet-to-be-identified woman, whose remains were found at the former’s place of residence at No. 16 Taiwo Oke Street, Victory Estate, in the Ejigbo area of Lagos State.
The state Police Public Relations Officer, Bala Elkana, said in a statement on Monday that Balogun’s wife, Akorede, who discovered the corpses at her husband’s second home, informed the police about the development.
He stated that detectives from the state police command, who were mobilised to the scene, found the corpses of Balogun and the woman lying on a knife in a pool of blood in the sitting room.
Elkana added that the command had commenced investigation to unravel the actual cause of death.
The PPRO said, “On Thursday, June 20, 2019, around 8am, one Akorede Balogun of Area 2, Igbehandun Estate, New Heaven, Iba, reported at the Iba Police Station that her husband, Rasaki Balogun, 56, of No. 16 Taiwo Oke Street, Victory Estate, Ejigbo, was found dead with his mistress in his sitting room.
“A team of detectives, led by the Divisional Police Officer, Ejigbo, visited the scene. The corpses of the man and his alleged mistress were found in the pool of their blood with the woman lying on a knife. The man was said to be living alone in the house, while his family live in a different place. The identity of the mistress has yet-to-be established as he was said to have picked her about two days earlier from an unknown location and brought her to the house.
“The crime scene was sealed off for forensic analysis, while the corpses were evacuated to hospital for autopsy. Homicide detectives from the State Criminal Investigation and Intelligence Department, Panti, Yaba, have taken over the case on the instruction of the state Commissioner of Police, Zubairu Muazu. Investigation is ongoing to unravel the circumstances surrounding their death.”
In another development, the police said a wanted suspected kidnapper, Mufutau Sulaimon, aka Pencil, had been killed in the Ikorodu area of the state.
Elkana said in a statement on Monday that Sulaimon engaged police personnel in a gun battle during a raid on his hideout in the Odogunyan area of Ikorodu, but died as a result of the bullet wounds he sustained.
He said Sulaimon and his gang members were responsible for the death of two Bureau De Change operators, whose corpses were dumped in a septic tank in Ikorodu, after collecting a ransom of N1.6m.
Elkana stated, “On Sunday, June 23, 2019, around 9.10pm, a notorious kidnap ringleader, who led his deadly gang in the kidnap and murder of two Bureau De Change operators in Ikorodu on Thursday, March 14, 2019, after collecting a ransom of N1.6m, is dead.
“Three members of his gang were earlier arrested by men of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad and they led the operatives to their den at Ikorodu, where the corpses of the two Bureau De Change operators and two other victims were recovered. “A sustained monitoring of the fugitive ringleader, Sulaimon, finally yielded positive results as the team eventually traced him to his hideout in Odogunyan, Ikorodu.
“On sighting the team led by Deputy Superintendent of Police, Rotimi Ogunmuyiwa, Sulaimon, aka Pencil, engaged the team in a gun battle. Two SARS operatives, Sergeant Omoola Adedeji and Sergeant Gbenga Oluwadare, sustained various degrees of injuries, while Sulaimon sustained bullet wounds on both legs.
“They were all taken to hospital, but Sulaimon was confirmed dead on arrival, while the two injured police personnel were taken to the intensive care unit and are responding to treatment. One gun with live ammunition and expanded ammunition were recovered from the scene.”