Lagos State Police Command has arrested three persons suspected of having murdered an Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) and cut off his hands. The suspects, who were identified as Messrs. On Monday, Alfred, Laitan Apanpa, aka Emir, and Boluwatife Oluwapelumi were arrested by detectives in the Ikorodu area of the state. The suspects, who have confessed to being members of the deadly Aiye cult group, were sighted on a motorbike popularly called Okada and given a hot chase, adding that when they realized that their chasers were policemen, they abandoned their motorbike and jumped into the bush.
But the police were able to arrest two while the third, Laitan Apanpa, aka Emir, disappeared into thin air. The police later discovered that the bag in their possession contained the hands of a murdered police ASP who was posted to guard a disputed portion of land. Investigation further revealed that the same Laitan Apanpa had been detained at the Lagos Police Command cell for the murder but escaped during the #EndSARS protest, stressing that they all worked for a notorious land grabber in Ikorodu.
Reacting to the arrest, the police public relations officer, SP Ben Hundeyin, said Laitan, who initially escaped on the day his gang members were arrested, was later tracked to a hideout in the same Ikorodu and arrested, saying efforts were being intensified to crackdown on other members of the gang. He said, “On May 17, 2023, at about 1715 hrs, three men, namely: Monday Alfred ‘m,” aged 32; Laitan Apanpa, aka Emir ‘m,” aged 34; and Oluwapelumi Boluwatife, on a motorcycle with registration number JGB 276 VU, were intercepted by officers on patrol.
Upon searching, two decomposing human hands, one Techno and one Vivo, were found in their possession. While Laitan was able to escape initially, operatives of the command later tracked him down and located him at his hideout in the Ibode area of Ikorodu, where he was subsequently arrested. Investigation revealed that both suspects are members of the Aiye Confraternity, while Laitan was a murder suspect detained at Ikeja who escaped from his cell during the END SARS protest. The suspects confessed that the hands were those of a police ASP, whom they murdered during a fracas over ownership of a portion of land. An effort is in place to arrest other members of the gang.
