Suspected serial killer in Ibadan, Oyo State, Sunday Shodipe, has said that a herbalist mounted pressure on him to escape from police custody.
Shodipe disclosed this on Wednesday when he was paraded by the Oyo State Police Command.
Commissioner of Police in the state, Nwachukwu Enwonwu, who paraded him alongside other suspects on Wednesday, said Shodipe went back to Akinyele and carried out another killing after he escaped from police custody.
The CP said the suspect escaped from police custody on August 11 and carried out the killing of Mrs Funmilayo Oladeji at her home two days after his escape.
When Shodipe was asked by journalists where he went to after his escape, he confirmed he went to Akinyele again and killed another victim there.
He said he fled the police station to carry out rituals in the interest of one Idris Ajani, a 50-year-old herbalist, he was arrested with.
He said the herbalist threatened him in custody, saying there would be dire consequences if he did not escape to continue the killings.
“Baba (herbalist) had been telling Officer Funsho to open the gate to allow us to take our bath but the officer did not answer him. Baba later told the officer that he needed to drink gin as an herbalist to prevent spirits from draining his blood but the officer still did not answer him.
“Baba had been blaming me for telling the police and the public that he was the one that sent me to kill and that I would have been released from the custody if I had been untruthful.
“Baba also told me that something terrible might happen to him if he stayed too long in police custody because of the sacrifices he had not been performing since his arrest.
“So, when the police later allowed me to go and bath in the evening at about 7:00pm, I used the opportunity to escape and went to Akinyele to kill another woman.
“Baba sends me out and tells me to kill by reciting his name, Idris Adedokun Yunusa Ajani, in incantations. So, I killed the women to ensure Baba’s safety.”