Army arrests suspected killer of FUNAAB student kidnapped in Lagos

The death of a 300-level student at the Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta, Ogun State, Idowu Christiana, has been linked to Adeleye Ayomide, who was verified to have been arrested by the Nigerian Army.

On Monday, August 19, 2024, the deceased was kidnapped along the Ikorodu-Yaba Road in Lagos State by suspected kidnappers.

Prior to the student's release, the kidnappers sought a ransom of N3 million, according to a family source who previously spoke on condition of anonymity.

Nevertheless, the abductors refused to release the kidnapped student and only received N350,000 that was sent into their account after multiple pleadings.

In a phone chat with our correspondent on Thursday, Lt-Col. Olabisi Ayeni, the spokesperson for the 81st Division of the Nigerian Army, verified Ayomide's detention.

With a "yes," Ayeni stated that the suspect had been taken into custody by 174 Battalion troops. I am aware of the problem. You can get further information by getting in touch with the Lagos State Police Command; they will be receiving him from us today after being taken into custody by the 9 Brigade Nigerian Army.

Additionally, on Thursday, Christiana's death was confirmed by FUNAAB's Student Union Government president, Ibrahim Adeyemi, over the phone with one of our correspondents. He stated, "The union can confirm that she was reportedly killed by her abductor." We intend to promptly attend to this situation.

Concerned Nigerians have continued to express their feelings in response to Christiana's passing, particularly on the social media site X (previously Twitter).

Our correspondent's checks on X indicated that some people had pointed accusing fingers at Ayomide for Christiana’s death.
At the time this story was filed, there were over 90,000 posts with the hashtag #JusticeForChristiana, making it one of the most popular trends on Nigeria's X domain.

"Our friend, Christiana, is dead, a Funaabite; was abducted by this Ayomide, a student of Philosophy at OOU, Ogun State," tweeted Tommy, an X user, early on Thursday under the handle #Tommyjr277. For our friend, we demand justice. According to reports, the suspect is at 174 Battalion in Ikorodu. Justice, please. The law's fury must be faced by him.

A Twitter user going by the handle #Letter_to_Jack, Man of Letters, confirmed on Wednesday night that the suspect was being held at the Nigerian Army's 174 Battalion in Ikorodu, Lagos State.

Additionally, he mentioned Ayomide's confession to the father of the deceased and the military operatives to have killed and buried the victim, according to “detailed reports from trusted sources.”
Using this information, among other things, he tweeted, "Operators started looking into the suspect, whom they saw to be in a relationship with Christiana Idowu, particularly judging by Instagram posts as they both commented on each other's pages." Equipped with this knowledge, the agents started monitoring his mobile phone usage and texts.

They found his parent's home somewhere in Ikorodu thanks to the cell phone tracking. Then, by actively tracking his mobile device, operators were able to verify that he was inside the building. Courageous Nigerian Army 174bn soldiers quickly closed in on the culprit to make an arrest. Damning evidence was discovered with the suspect after the arrest, including the victim's blue ITEL A56 with IMEI: 35230**.