The Pan-Yoruba socio-cultural organisation, Afenifere, yesterday, faulted what it described as “lackadaisical attitude of the police” over the assassination of Olufunke Olakunri, daughter of its leader, Chief Reuben Fasoranti.
The Yoruba group alerted that for over two months after the killing of the victim by suspected Fulani herdsmen in Ore, Ondo State, investigations by the police had been shoddy.
Afenifere, in a statement by its National Publicity Secretary, Yinka Odumakin, said the driver of the car in which the deceased was killed has not been asked a question by the police till date.
While asking about the whereabouts of the killers of Funke Olakunri, he said the police have not done any serious investigations into the murder.
Odumakin said, “It’s now over two months that Mrs. Olufunke Olakunri, the daughter of Afenifere leader, Chief Reuben Fasoranti was murdered around Ore in Ondo State and we are compelled to speak out over the lackadaisical attitude of the police over the gruesome assassination.
“Mr. Kehinde Fasoranti, the younger brother of the deceased had stated openly a day after the incident that the police in Ore told him the sister was killed by Fulani herdsmen when he went to collect her body the day she was killed and challenged the police to bring out the statement he wrote at their station.
“They have not contradicted him till date. The first sign we got that there was no attempt to launch any serious investigation into the murder was when the car in which she was killed was released to the family from Ore police station the day after the murder without any forensic investigation into the most prized evidence at the scene of the crime.
“It was when we engaged the police high command that they came to pick the car six days later. The car has now been returned to the family with no report on the examination report. Indeed, there was no attempt to carry out any autopsy on the corpse until we also demanded one from the police before the burial.
“One was carried out and only that report was given to the family when they went to collect the car. Beyond this, the police have not made any briefing to the family on their investigations into this dastardly act.
“There are other bizarre developments that worry us on police investigations into this murder.
“For instance, the driver of the car in which Mrs. Olakunri was killed has not been asked a question by the police till date. Furthermore, a few days after the killing, a staff of the deceased’s husband, Bankole Olatunbosun, was arrested as he was said to be in touch with Mr. Olakunri’s driver, Femi Ajayi, who drove the Sienna bus in the deceased convoy.
“A week after the killing, Femi was brought into the family house in Akure by police officers in the anti-kidnap unit. The story from the crime scene was that Femi got down from the Sienna bus and followed the gunmen who killed Mrs. Olakunri.
“He claimed he was kidnapped but there is no evidence of ransom requested from him or his family. He and Bankole Olatunbosun are now free men. Femi even sauntered into the Fasoranti family house three days ago.
“All the above put together suggest to us clearly that the police have not done any serious investigations into this murder. And it worries us that we are seeing all the signs of lethargy that usually attend high profile murders with powerful masterminds in our country.