A 50-year-old man, Monday Elela, has confessed to killing and burying his 14-year-old son, Tope Elela, for allegedly engaging in repeated criminal activities, including housebreaking and theft. The shocking confession was made on Monday when Elela was paraded by the Ondo State Commissioner of Police, CP Wilfred Afolabi, at the police headquarters in Akure.
Elela, a resident of Ajowa Akoko in Akoko North-West Local Government Area, described his son as the black sheep of the family among his seven children. According to the father, he buried Tope in a shallow grave under a banana tree behind his house after the boy died from beatings administered as punishment for his criminal behavior.
“I did not know that the boy would die when I beat him in the night after he escaped from the custody of the State Security Network, Amotekun,” Elela said. He admitted that he frequently handed over his son to Amotekun or local vigilantes for discipline whenever the boy was caught stealing.
The father revealed that his wife fled with their other children upon learning of his arrest. “The deceased had escaped from Amotekun’s detention and was embarrassing the family with his criminal activities. When he returned, we beat him and went to sleep. The next morning, his siblings found him dead, and I decided to bury him,” he narrated.
The police also paraded 24 other suspects for crimes ranging from cultism and murder to housebreaking and armed robbery. Among them were Olamide Ogunseyila, a confessed member of a cult group, and Gbenga Bisi, the wife of a fugitive cultist, Steven Dada, who is known as “Ogodo.”
In connection with recent cult clashes in Owo, which left five people dead, police apprehended additional suspects, including Bero Adeola and Olabode Ojo, who confessed to being members of the Aye cult group.
CP Afolabi assured the public that investigations are ongoing to apprehend other suspects, including the fugitive Steven Dada. “The Command is intensifying efforts to bring all those connected to these crimes to justice,” the CP stated.
The gruesome case of Tope Elela has left residents of Ajowa Akoko in shock, shedding light on the growing challenge of insecurity and family-related violence in the state.
