Governor Rotimi Akeredolu of Ondo state says one of the suspected killers of Funke Olakunrin, daughter of Afenifere leader, Pa Reuben Fasoranti, has tested negative for COVID-19.
Akeredolu made this known while speaking to reporters in Akure, the state capital on Monday, on the efforts made by his administration to curb the spread of the virus in the state.
It was widely reported that the patient, Adamu Adamu tested positive for COVID-19 after he and three other suspects were paraded and arraigned in Akure by the state Police Command.
He was kept at the State Infectious Disease Hospital where he made several attempts to escape from the facility. After he tested negative, officials of the Correctional Centre in Akure refused to admit him into the facility.
Speaking on the new development, governor Akeredolu said he has made necessary contacts with the Interior Minister, Rauf Aregbesola, to hasten the return of the defendant to the Correctional Centre.
Akeredolu said charges have been read to the suspect in respect of the case. According to the governor, the trial of the suspects would continue without any further delay.
The governor, however, described the two escape attempts of the suspect as worrisome.
“It is no longer expedient to keep the suspect outside an approved Correctional Centre. Where he is not the proper place.
“We are already discussing with the Minister of Interior on the need to move the suspect, we call them defendants anyway, to the Correctional Centre. That is where he rightly belongs.
“We believe strongly that the minister will in mo distance time, direct appropriate quarters within his jurisdiction to effect the transfer of the man to the appropriate place, he said.
