Tunde Oyediran, whose wife and two others were allegedly hacked to death by a TV repairer in Inisa town, Osun State, tells BOLA BAMIGBOLA how his initial arrest over the incident affected him
What is your name?

My name is Tunde Oyediran. I am an employee of the Hospitals Management Board, State Hospital, Ikirun (Osun State). I am a nurse.

The police recently arrested you over the killing of your wife, Sarah, and two children living with you, but later released you. What can you say about what led to their deaths?

On July 24, I left my place of work in Ikirun and got home in Inisa, in the Odo Otin Local Government Area of Osun State. At the gate, I honked to alert my wife that I was there, but there was no response. I parked the vehicle, opened the gate by myself and drove in. I entered my compound and parked the vehicle and I went in. I had a bag with me. I was also carrying my mobile phones. When I got home, it was already getting dark. I entered the sitting room and as I stepped in, an unknown person just grabbed me from behind and started stabbing me. Before I could come to the reality of what was happening, I had been stabbed seven times. I then mustered all the strength left in me, pushed him and got free. I ran into the children’s room.

Who was the assailant?

At that point, I didn’t know his identity.

So, what happened next?

I was bleeding profusely as a result of the wounds he inflicted on me. I was confused. To stop the bleeding, I took some clothes from the room and used them to cover the open wound. When I realised the assailant was still in the building, I pretended to be dead. He later came back to meet me in the room and demanded for my car key, phone and ATM card. I told him my phone was on the floor of the sitting room.

You said you couldn’t identify the assailant. Did he cover his face?

I could not see his face because it was dark and there was no electricity supply when the incident happened. He then requested for the PIN for my ATM card. I told him a wrong number. But he told me I was telling lie. He then told me the correct number. At that point, I concluded he must be someone that knew me very well. He went out of where I was lying helplessly to pick my ATM and other things he wanted. I was still bleeding and did not know what to do. I pretended to be dead.

Later, I heard someone saying good evening outside. I managed to stand and attempted to leave the room. But the attacker was still in the sitting room. As I was opening the door, he threw one heavy object towards my direction and I immediately closed the door and remained on the floor. I was thinking of what to do next. At a point, I decided that it would be wise for me to bleed to death without making an effort to escape. I saw a stool inside the room and climbed it. I removed the louvre blades since there were no security bars on the window and I jumped out and escaped from the house.

Why did you do that?

I went outside the premises and started shouting for help. It was then that people in our neighborhood came out to help me. I was taken to hospital in Inisa and, later, I was rushed to Ikirun, my place of work. While being treated, I told people with me to go back to my house because I didn’t see my wife or the children living with us. Their corpses were discovered the following morning and the police arrested me shortly after they were discovered. I was tagged the first suspect.

The police recently said the prime suspect had been arrested. But what was your experience like during the period you were in detention?

Actually, when I was detained at the State Police Criminal Investigation Department, I did not know what was happening outside. The investigators asked where my phone was. But I told them the attacker took it away. Later, they told me someone informed them that calls made to the phone rang in a hotel in Osogbo. A man working with me raised the alarm and invited the police to the hotel. My phone was discovered at the hotel and it was recovered. Detectives also saw some pictures which the attacker took using my phone on the device. When the phone was brought to me and the pictures were shown to me, I told the investigators that I knew the man in the pictures.

So, who is the man?

His name is Lukman; he came to my house and was introduced to us as an electronics repairer. I later engaged him to repair my plasma TV. And because I insisted that I would not allow him take the TV to his workshop, he came to my house and repaired the gadget. I was surprised when he turned the TV on and it worked, because we had assumed the TV would not work again. After he had finished, he requested his money. I told him that I would transfer the amount to him, but he pleaded that I should pay him in cash because he wanted to use the money to settle some bills that night. We went to the ATM point at a bank and withdrew the money. I guess, while using the ATM, he monitored me and saw my PIN.

What did you tell the suspect when he was brought to you in the cell?

I was short of words. I said, ‘Luku, why did you kill my wife and children?’ He just said the devil pushed him. He begged and told me not to be angry with him. He pleaded for forgiveness.

How did you feel knowing that many people initially believed that you killed your wife?

I spent 17 days inside the cell. I lost the hope of living again. I lost everything to the incident. It was disheartening. Many believed that I killed her because there was no way I could prove I didn’t do it or convince them. I was arrested where I was receiving treatment. It was when the suspect was arrested that they started changing their attitude towards me.

How many children do you have?

I have four children and none of them was staying with me. It was only my wife; my grandchild, who was brought from Osogbo to spend her holiday with us; and the last girl who was my wife’s relative, that were staying in the house. Unfortunately, the perpetrator killed the three of them. My late wife, Sarah Oyediran, retired a few years ago as headmistress.

Before the day the suspect came to perpetrate the act, did he visit you frequently?

I can’t say. It was during the period that he helped us to repair the TV that I got to know him. After that time, I did not see him again.

What was the reaction of your children?

Some of them said I could not have killed my wife, while some said I did it. I couldn’t defend myself until the truth was revealed.