A Lagos based Pastor, Erinmole Adetokunbo, has re-appeared before the Lagos State Special Offences Court for allegedly beheading a seven-year-old boy, Kazeem Rafiu, in the Ikorodu area of the State.
The Pastor was re-arraigned alongside one Adedoyin Oyekanmi on three counts charges, bordering on conspiracy and murder.
The duo had allegedly lured the boy from his parents’ house on Sotunyo Street to the church’s premises on Oke-Oniburokun Street, Odokekere, in Ikorodu on June, 2017.
Oyekanmi and Adetokunbo, were said to have beheaded him and buried his head around the church’s altar, while the body was kept in a canal.
Adetokunbo who was 26 year old then, was apprehended by residents. He reportedly confessed to the crime and named Oyekanmi as his accomplice.
They led detectives to the church, where the victim’s remains were recovered, while a mob destroyed the church.
The suspects were arraigned before the Lagos State Magistrate’s Court, Ebute-Meta, on three counts charges bordering on murder.
The Magistrate, O. A. Fowowe-Erusiafe, had ordered that they be remanded in custody pending the release of legal advice from the Directorate of Public Prosecutions.
However, after four years of being remanded in a custodial centre, the case was transferred to the special offences court, where they were arraigned afresh before Justice Oluwatoyin Taiwo.
The charges read in part;
“That you, Adedoyin Oyekanmi and Erinmole Adetokunbo, on June 7, 2017, around 2pm on Oke-Oniburokun Street, Odokekere, Ikorodu, Lagos, in the Ikeja jurisdiction, did conspire among yourselves to commit felony, to wit: murder, thereby committing an offence.
“That you, on the same date, time and place, in the aforementioned jurisdiction, did kill one Kazeem Rafiu, aged seven, by cutting off his head with a cutlass, thereby committing an offence.
“That you, without lawful justification or excuse, dismembered the remains of one Kazeem Rafiu, aged seven.”
The police prosecutor, Sergeant Maria Dauda, explained that the offences were punishable under sections 233, 223 and 165 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, Nigeria, 2011. The defendants’ pleas were not taken, just as they were not represented by any counsel.
Dauda filed an application for their remand in prison, citing Section 264 of the Administration of Criminal Justice Law of Lagos State, Nigeria, 2011.
Following the pleas of the duo, Justice Taiwo adjourned the matter till November 6, 2021, for the commencement of trial.
