Akure caterer’s death: Police arraign 18-year-old suspect

A teenager, Philip Emmanuel, described as a personal assistant, was today docked before an Akure Magistrates’ Court for the alleged murder of a 54-year-old Akure-based caterer, Debbie Iyabo Adene.

The deceased was hacked to death at her residence on Oda Road in Akure, the Ondo State capital, on 25 July 2024, five days after her birthday.

Philip, 18, was arraigned on three counts of conspiracy to commit a felony, murder, and theft.

The prosecutor, Inspector Taiwo Oniyere, told the court that the defendant, on 25 July 2024, at about 5 pm, behind Okiki Jesu Petrol Station, Oda Road, Akure, conspired with others at large to kill a woman, Iyabo Adene, who was his boss.

The defendant was also alleged to have stolen the sum of N60,000 from the GTB account of the deceased.

The charge read in part: “That you, Philip Emmanuel, ‘m’ on 25 July 2024, at about 5 pm, beside Okiki Jesu Petrol Station, Oda Road, Akure, in the Akure Magisterial District, did conspire with others to commit a felony, to wit, murder.

“That you, Philip Emmanuel, on the same date, time, and place, in the aforementioned Magisterial District, did machete one Iyabo Adene to death with a cutlass.

“That you, Philip Emmanuel, did steal the sum of sixty thousand naira (N60,000) from the GTB account of the late Iyabo Adene.”

The offences, according to the charge, contravened Sections 390(1), 324, and 319 of the Criminal Code Law, Cap 37, Vol. 1, Law of Ondo State, 2006.

The court did not take the plea of the defendant due to a lack of jurisdiction.

The prosecutor, through a written application, urged the court to remand the defendant in any of the correctional centres in the state pending the issuance of advice from the Office of the Directorate of Public Prosecutions (DPP).

The defence counsel, A. Akinrata, prayed for an adjournment to enable the defendant to file a counter-affidavit to the application sought by the prosecutor.

Magistrate Kolawole Aro granted the defence counsel’s request and adjourned the case till 6 September for a reply to the affidavit and ruling.

He ordered that the defendant should remain in police custody until the next date of adjournment.

THE BACKGROUND STORY

Personal Assistant to Ondo State caterer, Mrs Debbie Olakunbi Adene, has reportedly confessed why he and his boss’s driver killed the popular entrepreneur few days after her birthday.

Police sources revealed that the pair murdered the 54-year-old woman because they wanted the money that was sprayed on her during her birthday celebrations.

Reports said the PA, name withheld, was arrested by police detectives after the victim was gruesomely killed in her house located at Oda Road, Akure, capital of Ondo State, after her body was discovered on her bed by her neighbours who informed the caretaker of the house.
The mother of two was said to have entertained visitors at her residence and served assorted wine and drinks before posting many of her pictures on social media.

After her husband, Dele Adene, expressed concern over the delay in the arrest of the killer, a police source said the deceased’s PA confessed to killing her.

Adene, in an interview, had said: “I was told that my wife’s corpse was found on her bed in a pool of blood, showing she was hacked to death. I cannot believe that no arrests have been made up till the moment of talking to you. I feel the suspects should have been arrested. Her phone should be tracked. I don’t know how dwellers in the building did not know such thing happened in a house with four flats apartment.”

However, the police detective, who spoke to Sunday Vanguard, said the PA was also providing the police with useful information about the circumstances surrounding the killing.

It was also gathered that the late caterer’s driver, who is on the run, provided the weapon used to hack her to death.

Efforts to contact the state police image maker, Funmi Odunlami, proved abortive as she failed to pick her calls, but a police officer confirmed that one suspect has been arrested in respect of the murder.

The Hope