Mystery surrounds the sudden demise of a 71-year-old cleric, Omotayo Ezekiel Fajana, who was found dead inside a hotel room in Akungba-Akoko, Akoko South-West Local Government Area of Ondo State.
The tragic incident occurred just a few hours before the elderly church leader was scheduled to be officially crowned and installed as the Head Prayer Warrior Father of a prominent local parish.
Fajana had travelled from his base to the university town to attend a major spiritual convention at the Ogo Orimolade Cherubim and Seraphim Church, located in the Okerigbo quarter of the community, where his installation ceremony was meant to take place.
Handling of Omotayo Ezekiel Fajana’s body spark suspicion
The celebration turned into grief when church associates went to check on the cleric at his hotel lodging and discovered his lifeless body.
The situation rapidly escalated into a police matter after family members raised serious concerns regarding how the body was managed immediately after the discovery.
Sources revealed that instead of waiting for an official medical team or police detectives to certify the death at the scene, certain individuals allegedly rushed the corpse out of the hotel and deposited it at a mortuary in neighbouring Ikare-Akoko.
Unsettled by the breach of standard procedural protocols and suspicions of foul play, the grieving family filed a formal petition to law enforcement authorities, demanding a forensic autopsy and a thorough criminal investigation.
Detectives detain three suspects for interrogation
The police have launched a full-scale operation to reconstruct the cleric’s final hours, focusing closely on identifying and profiling every individual who visited or interacted with the deceased at the hospitality facility before his death.
Confirming the development, the Public Relations Officer for the Ondo State Police Command, DSP Abayomi Jimoh, stated that three suspects have already been taken into police custody. The detainees are currently undergoing rigorous interrogation to assist detectives in uncovering the truth.
“The command is actively investigating the matter. Our detectives are thoroughly examining all angles of the case to establish whether foul play was involved in the cleric’s death or the subsequent movement of his body. We want to assure the public and the family that anyone found culpable or negligent will face the full weight of the law,” DSP Jimoh stated.
While the hotel premises remain under surveillance, the police are awaiting the formal release of a post-mortem examination report from the pathology department to determine the exact biological cause of the octogenarian’s death.
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