President Muhammadu Buhari Saturday made telephone contact to Afenifere leader, Pa Reuben Fasoranti, to condole him over the death of his daughter, Mrs Funke Olakunri, who was killed by an armed gang on Kajola-Ore road in Ondo State last night.
Also, Governors Kayode Fayemi, Rotimi Akeredolu and Seyi Makinde of Ekiti, Ondo and Oyo states respectively as well as former Ondo State governor, Segun Mimiko, has paid a condolence visit to the Akure residence of Pa Fasoranti.
The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), besides, condemned in totality the gruesome killing of Pa Fasoranti’s daughter, describing as “heartrending that under the President Buhari administration, our nation has become a killing field and large funeral parlour with insurgents, bandits and assassins having a field day waylaying and killing innocent compatriots, especially those making very useful contributions to the development of our nation.”
Meanwhile, the Inspector General of Police, Mohammed Adamu, has assured that “the killers” of Mrs Olakunri “will certainly be found and made to face the full weight of the law.”
Buhari, who condoled with the grieving nonagenarian, wished him “the comfort of God” and prayed God to grant him “the fortitude to bear the great loss.” He also assured that security agencies would spare no effort to apprehend the culprits and bring them to justice.
Pa Fasoranti thanked the President for identifying with him and his family at their time of travail, praying that God would “restore peace and amity to the country,” said a statement by a presidential media aide, Femi Adesina.
The governors, who visited the residence of the Afenifere leader, were united in condemning the murder of Mrs Olakunrin, condoled with the nonagenarian accordingly and unanimously said preventive measures must be taken to ensure that such sad incident does not reoccur again.
But, PDP, in a statement by its National Publicity Secretary, Kola Ologbodiyan, lamented the “unpardonable lethargy in apprehending Mrs Olakunrin’s killers since Friday.”
“Our party is worried that security agencies are rather engaging in debates over the identity of the killers and hurriedly pointing to a case of abduction even before any extensive investigation has been carried out on the horrific and dastardly act.
“…the killing of Funke Olakunrin marks yet another national loss occasioned by the failure of the Buhari administration to secure the nation beyond lip service, a development that has emboldened marauders in our country,” PDP said.
The party posited that Mrs Olakunrin must not die in vain. “Our dear nation must not continue to lose her finest and brightest in the hands of bandits. Our party, therefore, charges the authorities to go beyond condolence messages from Abuja and take concrete steps to apprehend Funke Olakunrin’s killers, as well as ensure the security of lives in our nation,” the opposition pointed out.
While condoling Pa Fasoranti, the party charged the Inspector General of Police “to take immediate and decisive steps, beyond the lip service of the Buhari administration, to track down the killers without further delay and make them face the full wrath of the law, no matter who they are.”
The Nigeria Police Force, has, however, assured the nation that the killers of Pa Fasoranti’s daughter would be apprehended.
The Inspector-General of Police, in a statement by the Force Public Relations Officer, Frank Mba, said “the Ondo State Police Command, backed by Special Forces and seasoned investigators from the Force Criminal Investigation Department (FCID), the Intelligence Response Team (IRT) and the Technical Intelligence Unit (TIU) deployed from the Force Headquarters, Abuja, on his directives, have already commenced a massive manhunt for the killers with a view to tracking, arresting and bringing them to justice.”
While condemning the heinous and barbaric crime, the police chief, as part of measures to prevent a future occurrence of such incidence, has ordered: “the total overhaul of security architecture on the highways straddling the southern part of the country.”
“In this vein, the Commissioners of Police in the affected states were ordered by the IGP to emplace adequate security arrangement in their areas of jurisdiction (AOR),” the statement said.
Adamu equally assured the nation that the Force Headquarters has perfected plans to “replicate the special security arrangement powered by ‘Operation Puff Adder’ currently ongoing in Kaduna- Abuja expressway in key highways in the Southern part of the country.”
The Inspector-General of Police reiterated that the Force would “not rest on its oars until sanity is restored in every nook and cranny of the country,” calling for calm and support from all Nigerians, especially residents of Ondo State, in aid of the current investigation.
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