Oyo State Police Command, yesterday, arrested a 20-year-old suspect, Tosin Kolade, for the alleged defilement and murder of a 17-year-old girl, Ifeoluwa Apanpa, inside the auditorium of a Pentecostal Church at Olodo in Egbeda Local Council of Oyo State.

The state’s Commissioner of Police, Adewale Williams,  who paraded the suspect at the Command headquarters, in Eleyele, Ibadan, said he has confessed to the crime.

Apanpa was said to be on her way to Church when the suspect, under false pretence, sought her assistance in his own church that is nearby.

The suspect said: “I left where I was learning a vocational trade on that fateful day for the church under the pretence that I was sick.

“I left home after picking up the entrance key and left for church. My mother is a worker in the church and a member of the sanitation department. I pretended to be arranging the chairs when I saw Miss  Apanpa passing by. I sought her assistance, and not knowing what was running in my mind, she obliged.

“I forcefully demanded her mobile phone and the password, but she resisted. This resulted in a scuffle between us.

“She fell down and hit her head on the floor. This gave me the opportunity to abuse her sexually before she gave up the ghost inside the church.”

The  state’s Police Public Relations Officer, Adewale Osifeso,  who confirmed this in a statement, said: “On Friday,  September 17, at about 2030hrs, the Command through operatives attached to Iyana-Offa Divisional Police Headquarters were intimated about the sudden disappearance of Ifeoluwa, a 17-year-old female, who according to the report left for church at about 1600hrs and was yet to return home.

“A search party was immediately organised to demystify all possible angles to the disappearance. While this was ongoing as a call was placed to the parents of the deceased by an unknown caller stating clearly the deceased had been abducted.

“Preliminary investigation revealed that the lifeless body of the deceased was later found beside a Bible School at Olodo Area, with bloody genitalia, coupled with signs of struggling before her eventual untimely death. Also, the Command has in its custody through technological-driven intelligence one Kolade Tosin ‘m’, who has voluntarily confessed to committing the act.

“Investigation continues as the case is closely monitored by the State Criminal Investigation and Intelligence Department  (SCIID) with the assurances of an immediate update as soon as we have them.”

MEANWHILE, the Command has paraded 15 suspected kidnappers and rescued their victims and recovered assorted firearms, ammunition at various locations in the state.

The state’s Commissioner of Police, Adebowale Williams, who confirmed the arrest, while addressing newsmen at the Command’s Headquarters in Eleyele, Ibadan, said the suspects were picked up from their various hideouts in the state.

According to him, some of the suspected kidnappers are noted for intercepting parents while conveying their children and wards to their respective school in Ibadan and its environs.

He identified them as: Abolaji AbdulAzeez, Alese, Adewale Abolarinwa, Buba Bello, Monday Maleek, Austine Clement, Lanre Divian; David Jeremiah; Mohammadh Abdulahi; Umar Mohammed; Abubakar Umaru; Hadari Mohammadu; Ibrahim Taiwo; Mohammadu Taiwo and Mohammadu Bello.

The commissioner said two pump action rifles, three live cartridges, one Toyota Corolla car, one ML-350 Mercedes Benz Jeep, One Lexus ES350 car and One Honda Element Jeep; one NISSAN cabstar vehicle, one Honda Accord car, one Toyota matrix car and One NISSAN Micra car were recovered from the suspected kidnappers.