Twenty-three-year old Adeeko Owolabi reportedly connived with a self-acclaimed pastor to murder his girlfriend, Favour Daley-Oladele, who was a final-year student of the Lagos State University. He talks to Sunday Punch about why he chose Favour as his target and how he executed the plan
How would you describe the role you played in the killing of Favour Daley-Oladele?
I am a student, my colleagues just finished from Lagos State University, but I have carryover and was trying to retake the course when this happened. I study sociology.
I called Favour on December 8, 2019 to meet me at Ikoyi-Ile so we could spend some time together. She met me at a hotel in the area, but immediately she got there, she started complaining that she was tired and needed to rest.
I told her that we needed to visit my dad’s younger brother before she would rest. It was a lie. I tricked her into going to the church of Segun. When we got to the church, again, she complained that she wanted to sleep, so, I asked her to go into the church and rest.
When she slept off, I used a pestle to smash her in the head and she died. After we confirmed she was dead, Pastor Segun slaughtered her and removed the vital organs from her body so that they could be used for the ritual we wanted to perform to make money.
How did you meet the prophet?
I met the prophet through my aunt; she introduced him to me. I have known him for long, but he used to only interpret dreams for me.
My mother is the breadwinner of our family. Since my father lost his job, she has been the one going about to ensure that we survive. But recently, I discovered that things were not going smoothly for her. She was not making money like she used to and she wasn’t getting contracts. Because of the love I had for my mother and because I knew how much she had tried for the survival of the family, I decided to perform a money ritual for her without telling her.
Why did you not tell her?
I don’t know why I did not tell her. I just wanted to surprise her. I thought the ritual would be a way to pay her back for all the good things she had done for me.
When did you meet Favour?
I met her about a couple of months ago in school and she was surprised that I was still in school. She asked me about it and I explained to her that I had a carry-over. After we started talking, we became closer.
Since you performed the ritual, have your family become rich?
We have not got any money. Things have not been going on well; my mum’s business has not improved after what we did and despite all our efforts. I think the money ritual did not work.
Do you have any regrets?
I have a lot of regrets and I feel very bad that I did such a thing to my girlfriend. I have felt bad from the moment I did it and I regret it.
Since there is law of karma, I already know I will be killed. What is painful to me is that my mum did not know about it and it would be bad if she is punished for what she did not have any hand in. I have accepted that they will kill me, but they should not do anything to my mother because she is innocent.
I regret following my son to meet killer pastor – Mother of slain LASU student’s boyfriend
Mrs Bola Adeeko is the mother of the suspected killer of final-year student of Lagos State University, Favour Daley-Oladele, who was said to have been involved in the killing. She says she was not involved in the killing of her son’s girlfriend
What do you do for a living?
I am 46 years old. I do decorations. I get contracts for school decorations. I’m a married woman and we live together.
How many children do you have?
Owolabi is my only child.
What role did you play in the death of Favour, whom your son has admitted to have killed?
I went to see Pastor Segun because of the spiritual problems facing our family. There is nobody who does not have problems. I went there so that he could assist us spiritually. I went there for solutions to our problems. Before I went there, I had spoken to him on the phone and he told me all that would be done for me and my family. I had a dream and he told me that the dream was what would determine the kind of spiritual ritual to be done for me.
He gave me a soap to use and after using it, I dreamt that I saw myself giving food to people. The next day, I called him and explained my dream to him and he told me I needed to offer a sacrifice to my deceased parents because that was why I suffered a setback in all I had been doing.
He told me I would need to cook for people and would need to buy a goat and other food items for the sacrifice.
How much did you give him for the sacrifice?
I gave him N200,000 for the sacrifice. I borrowed the money from people around me.
What happened after you gave the pastor the money?
He bought the goat like he said and I saw as they cooked and distributed food to the people living in the environment where the church is located. They also packaged some in plastic bowls and gave them to beggars.
That evening, he came to where I was lodged and told me that they would use the goat’s vital organs to prepare concoction for me. In the night, the pastor brought the concoction as he promised. I only ate a little from the concoction because I am not a fan of such things. In fact, I vomited after eating it unknown to me that human body parts were used to prepare the concoction.
The following day, the pastor came to me and told me that they would prepare a spiritual soap for me that I would be using to bathe so that I could get good clients for my job.
Why did you partake in such a heinous act?
I did not know anything about the killing of the girl; I was surprised when the police told me that my son had committed murder. I was never aware that the concoction they gave me had human body parts.
I felt bad and devastated. In fact, I have not eaten anything since Friday that I was arrested. It hurts and I can’t even imagine that I ate human body parts without my consent. I am also a mother and it really touched my heart that they killed someone’s daughter for me. There was no way they would tell me they wanted to use human body parts to prepare concoction for me and I would agree to it.
Why did you follow your son to seek spiritual intervention to solve your problems?
Frustration made me follow him because things were not going well for my family. We were just going from one problem to another. I have visited many pastors myself, but when he came to me and told me about the pastor (Segun), I felt he might have solutions to our problems.
How were you arrested?
I left the place (Ikoyi-Ile in Osun) three days after the sacrifice was made and went to Lagos. The pastor told me that my son would stay back for some time because he needed to perform some rituals for him.
But a day before Christmas, I went to my father’s house in Ibadan; that was when I started calling my son and the pastor and couldn’t get him. All efforts to get him were in vain, so I had to call a mechanic I gave my car to at Ikoyi-Ile so he could fix it as it was faulty. It was the mechanic that told me that my car had been impounded by the police. So I left Ibadan for Osun and went straight to the Ayedade Police Station to find out why they impounded my vehicle. I also reported at the station that I was looking for my son. It was there I was arrested and taken to Mowe in Ogun State.
Do you have any regrets?
I regret following my son to meet the prophet. I regret meeting the prophet because if I did not meet the man, what happened to us wouldn’t have happened. After all, he was not the first prophet I would go to. If not that my son insisted that he knew the prophet and was sure the man could solve our problems, I wouldn’t have gone there.
Has any member of your family visited you?
Nobody has come to check on us because they have not given us the opportunity to make calls. I want the government to help me because I did not know anything about it. I was kept in the dark. I did not see anything wrong in having problems and going to a pastor to seek spiritual guidance. Government should come to my aid; I am innocent.
(Sunday Punch)