Okitipupa Arsonist’s Confession: I Burnt the Family Because Titi Aborted my 4-Month Pregnancy

Tears, more tears flowed in Okitipupa Tuesday after arsonist Adedeji Williams Adenuga was paraded live on television by the police in Akure.

The 40-year- old Adenuga set an entire family of nine ablaze in Ayeka-Igbodigo, near Okitipupa penultimate weekend even as more facts emerged as to why he took the dastardly decision.

An ex-convict, Adenuga was reported to have escaped from jail sometime ago after being sentenced to eight years imprisonment over the murder of one businesswoman.

His estranged girl friend,Titilayo Sunmonu, a mother of one had run away from her husband in Ilaje Local Government to live with the mother in Ayeka, very close to the State High Court where she met and fell in love with Adenuga.

Adenuga rented a small shop for Titi, near the State General Hospital in Okitipupa,  where she sells palm wine but both lovebirds were always at daggers drawn. And they had dragged themselves to the police station in Okitipupa severally.

During the parade in Akure, Adenuga,explained the reason for his action saying it all started after disagreeing with his then girlfriend Titi Sunmonu and he visited the family in their rented apartment at midnight with a jerry can laden with petroleum. He knocked at the door and Titi;s mother leisurely opened the door for him.

He got in a warned that everybody should get out of the house as he was ready to set the house ablaze but nobody took him seriously. He went out and sprayed the house with petrol but it was too late for the occupants to rush out even as Titi’s mother started shouting for help.

All nine except Titi’s mother were badly burnt that four died instantly and four others died before getting to hospital in Akure.

Adenuga, best known as ‘Ojuode’, had escaped from the town after perpetrating the alleged act; however, after “round-the-clock investigations” by the Police, but ran out of luck  on Monday evening in Ijebu Ode, Ogun State, where he was wandering under a bridge.

Speaking with reporters at the headquarters of the Ondo State Police Command in Akure on Tuesday, Adenuga said he burnt the family of his ex-girlfriend after she aborted a pregnancy she had for him.

He claimed he had invested heavily in the lady before she jilted him based on her elder sister’s advice.

He narrated how both of them had been having relationship issues, and were always ending up at the police station for settlement.

“What actually happened was that Titi aborted the four-month-old pregnancy that she had for me while we were dating each other,” he said in an emotion-laden tone.

“Though, we have been having issues in recent times, I have spent a lot of money on her. I gave her a sum of N30,000 to start a petty trade, as she was selling sachet water. Later, I gave her a sum of N25,000 to keep for me, making N55,000 but I think she spent the money lavishly because she was staying with me.

“And while she was staying with me, I spent money on her because there is this her elder sister called Jumoke who used to collect money from me. The elder sister was always controlling her and teaching her what to do, and the issue became open that we dragged one another to the police station.

“We later resolved all the issues but surprisingly, Titi packed her property out my house, saying her sister said I should come and pay N20,000 for her dowry before she would return.

“I begged them to give me time to look for money, and do the needful but they refused and started playing me, having spent so much for her. I went to the station to report what she and her elder sister were doing to me but the Police saw it as a small issue so they settled it.

“After we left the station, they began to abuse me and make jest of me, saying I was a failure and not even a man for dragging them to the police station. In fact, they threatened me. They said they would deal with me and even kill me if I did not desist from reporting them on the streets. I saw those words as big threats.

“That same day, I planned to take an action and I went to the gas station at night, bought fuel and stormed their house and poured petrol inside the room while I ran away.”

Undie Adie, Commissioner of Police in Ondo State, said that Adenuga was apprehended following “intense manhunt and investigations” by the Police.

“He was arrested in Ijebu-Ode area of Ogun State. The girl whom which said jilted her is the only one that survived. She is still receiving treatment in the hospital.”