Ayomide Adeleye, a 23-year-old Philosophy student of the Olabisi Onabanjo University (OOU), Ogun State, Nigeria has killed a 300 Level student of the Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta (FUNAAB), Christianah Idowu after receiving ransom from the victim’s parent.
Adeleye confessed to killing Idowu after being arrested by security operatives who tracked the victim’s phone to his residence in the Ikorodu area of Lagos State.
The 23-year-old denied knowledge of her abduction and claimed to be in possession of her phone because he was a phone repairer. He said unknown persons gave him the phone to repair and he asked no questions. Less than 24 hours later, he confessed to killing her the same day she went missing.
What happened?
Idowu and Adeleye knew each other as they both schooled in Ogun State, attended the same church and lived in the same Ita Oluwo community.
On August 19, 2024, Adeleye left her home in the Itaoluwo area of Ikorodu heading to the University of Lagos in the Yaba. It was gathered that she usually goes to UNILAG on weekends to return home on Friday.
Reports said while on her way, it began to rain, so she took cover in Ayomide (Adeleye)’s family’s shop which was just outside his house.
Idowu had only wanted to stay out there for a while and head back to her destination, but he invited her into his house when the rainfall became intense.
While in his house, Adeleye attempted to take advantage of her but she resisted. He then killed her.
On the same day, Adeleye sent photos of her captivity via the ‘view once’ feature and demanded ₦1.5 million in ransom. Idowu’s mother, a widow raised ₦350,000, which was transferred to a betting account as directed by the abductors.
After receiving the money, he requested a copy of the sender’s bank statement. The victim’s family complied on August 23, but the Adeleye stopped communicating afterwards.
In the meantime, some ransom funds were transferred into Idowu’s GTB account and later withdrawn into a Wema Bank account linked to the main suspect, Adeleye Ayomide.
https://twitter.com/BenHundeyin/status/1831692978877853702How was Adeleye arrested?
To apprehend him, the military obtained a SportyBet account he provided to Idowu’s mother; 9336380839 (Wema Bank), and froze the account after she paid N350,000 into it on August 21.
After experiencing issues accessing the account, Adeleye demanded a statement of account be sent to him via the email address; musaahmed0288@gmail.com.
The email address he created, was a combination of two names; Musa and Ahmed, to match the persona he had donned to execute the con.
Adeleye made the woman send more money to Idowu’s bank account so he could withdraw it. She sent N10,000 and begged him to release her daughter, but he complained that the money was insufficient.
“Just 10k, madam?” he asked. “I thought you said you had more. This woman no serious.”
He then told her he would follow up with the issues preventing him from accessing the N350,000 she paid earlier.
“I will text you when I get it. Until then before I text you,” he told her on August 23. “Have a good weekend.” He then added a Hausa greeting to keep up the act. “Na gode sai ku,” he said. The sentence translates literally as “Thank you, and you”.
On Sunday, September 1, 2024, the 174 Batallion tracked Idowu’s phone to Adeleye’s residence where they picked him up. He confessed to burying her in a shallow grave in his compound. During interrogation, Adeleye attempted to commit suicide but was restrained.
Security Operatives confirmed the arrest of Adeyeye
The spokesperson, 81 Division Nigerian Army, Lt-Col. Olabisi Ayeni confirmed Ayomide’s arrest via a telephone interview
Ayeni said the suspect was arrested by men of the 174 Battalion, saying, “Yes. I am aware about the issue. We arrested him and the 9 Brigade Nigerian Army will be handing him over to the Lagos State Police Command today, so you can liaise with them for further information.”
Similarly, the spokesperson, Lagos State Police Command, Benjamin Hundeyin, wrote on his X handle Thursday, “23-year-old Ayomide Adeleye has been handed over to #LagosPoliceNG by 9 Brigade #HQNigerianArmy. The handover took place today, September 5, 2024, at about 1400hrs. Investigation is ongoing.”
Also, on Thursday, the Student Union Government president of FUNAAB, Ibrahim Adeyemi, confirmed Christiana’s death in a telephone conversation, saying, “The union can confirm that she was reportedly killed by her abductor. We will be addressing the matter soon.”
https://twitter.com/ayrastarr/status/1831507968040292598Nigerians demand justice
Outraged by the incident, many Nigerians on Twitter, demanded justice for the victim, asking relevant stakeholders to ensure justice is served. They trended the hashtag — #JusticeForChristianah.
A Twitter influencer, Shola posting as @itsSh0la said, ‘People like this deserve everything bad happening to them. They don’t deserve to be around humans like us. I hope his victim gets justice as soon as possible. #JusticeForChristianah”
@baddest_cash wrote; “If at the age 15, he rap*d and put a 14-year-old girl in coma, Ayomide at 17 k!lled his first victim and buried her in his parent house. Then we need to ask his parent alot of questions because there is no way they won’t know something about their son.”
@thehookprincess reacted; “Where is safe for Nigerian girls and women? You’re not safe even in your own home, in your own bed while you sleep. You’re not safe with a course mate and a church member.”
@DamilolaTolu1 said, “They should hold his parent too because it should have stopped when he committed the first crime.”
Celebrities like Ayra Starr have voiced their support, calling for justice and condemning violence against women.
“Stop killing us! Stop raping us! Women deserve better #JusticeForChristianah,” the music star tweeted.
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