Killed FUTA Vice Chancellor, Police Confirm

Driver, Gateman Killed FUTA Vice Chancellor, Police Confirm

The Ondo State Command of the Nigeria Police Force (NPF) has stated that two workers employed by the former Vice Chancellor of the Federal University of Technology Akure (FUTA), Albert Ilemobade, have confessed to killing their boss.  

Ondo State Commissioner of Police 

Ondo State Police Commissioner, Isaac Eke, made the disclosure on Sunday evening in an exclusive interview he gave to a correspondent of SaharaReporters in Akure, the state capital. According to the police commissioner, the late professor’s driver and gateman confessed to police investigators to killing Mr. Ilemobade. The police boss identified the two suspects simply by their first names. One, Daniel, served as the late VC’s gateman while the other, Yemi, was the deceased academic’s driver.
The decayed remains of the former VC were discovered early on Sunday in a detached area of his large compound, according to an earlier report by this website. The alleged murderers told police that they killed Professor Ilemobade inside his compound, and then they fled.
“They confirmed to our men during interrogation that they strangled the professor to death and decided to dump his dead body at an abandoned store in the family’s expansive compound before taking to their heels and making away with his vehicle,” Mr. Eke said.
There were reports a week ago that the former university administrator was abducted along with his gateman and taken to an unknown destination.
Following news of Mr. Ilemobade’s abduction, the police had launched a manhunt for his purported abductors, unaware that he had been murdered and his dead body dumped inside a store in his compound close to a garage.
“The body [of the former VC] was found decomposed when our officers broke into the store where he was kept,” Mr. Eke said.
The police commissioner also disclosed that a team of security agents led by police officers from the Ogun State Command arrested the two domestic employees.
He said the two men were caught as they tried to sell off a red Toyota Rav4 SUV reportedly stolen from Mr. Ilemobade’s residence in Ijapo, near Akure.
“Our men from the Ogun State Command arrested the two [suspects] while they were negotiating a price for sale of their boss’s vehicle which they had stolen from him the day we thought he was kidnapped,” said Mr. Eke.
Asked how detectives found the former VC’s body, the police commissioner revealed that his command acted on a signal and immediately deployed officers to comb the compound.
According to Mr. Eke, the two suspects are being held in police custody. He added that police investigators continue to interrogate the suspects as the investigation into the tragic event continues.
SaharaReporters also learned that the remains of the 78-year old former professor of veterinary medicine had been deposited at a hospital.
The deceased vehicle was later recovered in Ogun state.
The police are scheduled to address a press conference on the matter on Monday, June 29, 2015 at 9 a.m. at the police headquarters on Igbatoro Road, Akure.