The Ondo State Police Command on Thursday said it had yet to link any of the suspects in its custody with the killing of Mrs Funke Olakunrin, a daughter of the Leader of the pan-Yoruba socio-political group, Afenifere, Chief Reuben Fasoranti.
Olakunrin, 58, was killed last Friday by gunmen, who attacked her vehicle at a spot near Kajola town on Ore-Sagamu Road.
However, the Police Public Relations Officer for the Ondo State Command, Femi Joseph, said that men of the command had invited some people for questioning. “We have commenced investigations into the killing of Mrs Olakunrin. In the course of combing the area in search of suspects, we have picked some people for interrogation.
“For now, we have not been able to link anybody with her death but we have some people with us that we are questioning.
“In the incident of this nature, we can apply Judges Rule No 1, which permits the police to invite any person for questioning maybe we can get information that can lead to the arrest of the real suspects.
“If in the course of doing this in the case of Mrs Olakunrin and we have caused inconveniences or injuries to anybody or group of people, we apologise.
“It was not true that we arrested villagers or artisans indiscriminately. Our men will not do that. If at the end of the investigation we discovered that the people we picked are not involved, we will let them go.”
The PPRO said the command had drafted men to all parts of the 18 local governments to rid the state of criminals.
Specifically, Joseph said the command had drafted men to roads in the state including Akure-Ado Ekiti, Owo -Ikare, Ore-Ijebu Ode, Owo-Ikare, Ikare-Isua roads.
However, the Oodua Peoples Congress on Thursday issued a 21-day ultimatum to the police and other security agencies to fish out the killers of Mrs Olakunrin.
The group in a statement issued in Ibadan by its National Public Relations Officer, Adeshina Akinpelu, said failure to find the killers after the ultimatum, its members would embark on an operation to drive out all criminally-minded Fulani herdsmen, their accomplices among the Yoruba and other ethnic groups perpetrating crimes from all the Yoruba speaking states.
“Time has come for us to act now. We will no longer fold our hands and allow herdsmen to continue to kill us like cows.
“We cannot continue to use the blood of our people to keep Nigeria’s unity. We are giving the police and other security agencies a 21-day ultimatum to fish out the killers of Mrs Funke Olakunrin.
“Failure to fish out the killers, we will have no option but to take the destiny of our people in our hands and drive out all criminally-minded Fulani herdsmen, their accomplices among the Yoruba and other tribes perpetrating crimes in Yoruba land,” Akinpelu said.
The group, while accusing the Fulani oligarchy of trying to re-capture Yorubaland after failing in previous attempts, stated that it would resist any attempt to silence the Yoruba leaders for voicing their opinion on insecurity in the country.
“We are aware that this is part of the grand conspiracy of the Fulani oligarchy to re-capture Yoruba land after failing in previous attempts. These Fulani were responsible for the fall of the first and second Oyo empires through cunning methods. Their third attempt which was a real war was met with stiff resistance from the Yoruba people who drove them back after they reached Osogbo.
“The killing of Mrs Funke Olakunrin is a part of a grand conspiracy of the Fulani oligarchy to silence some of our leaders from speaking the truth and making critical appraisal of President Muhammadu Buhari’s government,” he said.
