Operatives of the Nigerian soldiers have successfully arrested Adelaye Ayomide, the suspected killer of Christiana Idowu, a 300-level student of Philosophy at the Olabisi Onabanjo University, OOU
He was subsequently handed to the Nigerian Police Force, NPF in Lagos state.
The suspect was taken into custody over his alleged involvement in the abduction and gruesome murder of Christiana.
Idowu was reported by her family members to have gone missing on August 19.
She was said to have been abducted between Itaoluwo and Yaba on her way to UNILAG where she does her IT.
The suspected captor, subsequently confirmed to have been Ayomide, had contacted her family members, demanding N1.5m. However, her family could only raise N350,000 and paid the sum, on August 22.
The family also sent proof of payment via an email provided by the captor. By August 23, the captor reportedly halted communication with the victim’s family members, which formed the basis for an in-depth investigation by security agencies.
Before Ayomide’s eventual arrest, security agencies were able to link the bet account and email address through which the family engaged the captor to the suspect.
An X user, @adetejumi (Tejuosho) popularly known to share security-related incidents and events, disclosed on Thursday that “He was actually tracked down.
“He had a phone pinging in Ogun state and another in Lagos. Another agency was holding down the plan to breach gun locations while the military was in charge of Lagos. However, text and call data gave us hints that one is active and the other is a dummy.
“The active location was breached by personnel and he was found there. However, since he confessed, we didn’t release a report yet. It was when his parents allegedly ran from the house (we can’t confirm that) the cousin released info out and the girl’s family saw it.”
The operation conducted by military personnel finally led to the arrest of the victim and recovered from him was the victim’s blue ITEL A56 with IMEI:35230.
Also, the suspect’s phone allegedly had details of the money moved and details confirming he owned the locked betting account, which was registered with his phone number.
Ayomide confessed to the father and the soldiers that he killed the girl and buried her in their house.
There are, however, other cases of murder linked to the suspect. The case of his alleged involvement in the death of his biological sister in 2020, and another female acquaintance to the suspect, also abducted and killed in like manner in 2018.
Lagos Police spokesperson, Benjamin Hundeyin, confirmed the arrest in a post he shared on his X (formerly Twitter) handle @benHundeyin on Thursday.
He wrote: “23-year-old Ayomide Adeleye has been handed over to #LagosPoliceNG by 9 Brigade #HQNigerianArmy.
“The handover took place today, September 5, at about 2 p.m. Investigation is ongoing.”
Nigerians have taken to various social media, demanding justice for the deceased with the hashtag #JusticeForChristiannah, asking the security agencies to ensure that the suspect faces the wrath of the law.
