Christiana Idowu: Army Hands Over Alleged Killer To Police

The operatives of the Lagos State Command of the Nigeria Police yesterday revealed that the suspected killer of Christiana Idowu, a student of the Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta, (FUNAAB) Ogun State, recently kidnapped between Ikorodu and Yaba in the state later found dead has been handed over to them by the Nigerian Army.

The police stated that the 23-year-old alleged suspect, Ayomide Adeleye, was handed over to them by personnel of 9 Brigade, Nigeria Army yesterday, September 5, 2024.

The state Police Command Spokesman, Benjamin Hundeyin, a Superintendent of Police who disclosed this on his verified X (formerly Twitter) handle, said the handover of the alleged suspect in the murder of Christiana Idowu is currently in the police net.

He stated, “23-year-old Ayomide Adeleye has been handed over to @LagosPoliceNG by 9 Brigade @HQNigerianArmy. The handover occurred today, September 5, 2024, at about 1400hrs. An investigation is ongoing”

It was gathered that the 300-Level student from the Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta Ogun State, Christiana Idowu, who was declared missing on 19th August after being kidnapped between Ikorodu and Yaba, has been reportedly killed by her abductor in Lagos.

The deceased student said to be undertaking her internship at the University of Lagos, Akoka, Yaba, was reported to have been kidnapped on her way to her place of industrial attachment around the Itaoluwo area of Ikorodu when her kidnappers abducted her.

In a viral post from an X, former Twitter user @Letter_to_jack on his verified X handle, he posted a series of how his source uncovered the investigation into the alleged murder case of the deceased.

According to him, “On the 19th of August 2024, Christiannah Idowu was declared missing after her parents were contacted by her abductors using her own WhatsApp contact. The first contact with the parents was established around 8:49 pm, after which they sent photos of the victim in captivity to them using the WhatsApp ‘view once’ feature.

“The abductors requested a ransom fee of N1,500,000. Christiana’s parents raised N350,000 immediately. The abductor then asked that the money be sent to a bet account through a bank deposit channel. (Info reserved for now).

“After receiving the money, on the 22nd of August, the abductor requested that the bank statement of the sender be forwarded to his email (withheld). On the 23rd of August, the family complied. Immediately after that, the abductor stopped communicating with the parents.

“Meanwhile, on the 22nd of August, some amount was sent to Christiannah’s GTB account, and the amount was then withdrawn into the Wema bank account belonging to the main suspect (Name withheld for now).

“Investigation by intelligence operatives began on the 26th to unravel account number details.

“By the 29th, intelligence operatives had confirmation from the bank that the BVN linked to the masked Betting account allegedly belonged to the account owner (name withheld for now), who also operates the Wema Bank (account not withheld for now).

He added, “Further investigation revealed that he could withdraw the sum of 100,000 from the betting account before agents got the betting company to lock the account.

“Armed by this information, operatives began an investigation into the suspect, whom they observed to have a mutual relationship with Christiannah Idowu, especially judging by Instagram posts as they both commented on each other’s pages.

“The crazy thing is: the same account number used to launder some amount directly from Christiannah’s account has been posted on Twitter once to “beg for a give away free money”

“With all this information, the operatives began to track down his cell phone activities and text messages. The cell phone tracking led them to his parent’s house in Ikorodu.

He continued, “Operatives then got confirmation of his presence in the building through active tracking of his mobile device. Immediately, gallant personnel of the Nigerian Army 174bn swooped in on the suspect to conduct an arrest.

“After the arrest, damning evidence was seen with the suspect, and this includes the victim’s blue ITEL A56 with IMEI:35230.

“Also, in his phone are details of the money moved and details confirming he owns the locked Betting account. It was registered with his phone number.

“On his phone, they found an interaction between his email and the email address that has been interacting with the family of the deceased. After reviewing the evidence, the suspect was taken into custody to enable the operatives to conduct further investigations.

“Upon reviewing this evidence, the suspect was taken into custody for necessary action.

“On August 3, the suspect reportedly confessed to the father and the soldiers that he killed the girl and buried her in their house.

“There is also a new story awaiting further confirmation that in 2018, the suspect’s ex-girlfriend was killed in the same manner. Also, in 2020, the suspect’s biological sister met the same fate, and the same thing happened to Christiannah in 2024. It’s devastating. I’ll give more updates as I get them,” the post reads.

Meanwhile, there has been an outcry for justice for the deceased Christiana Idowu on social media, with X users calling on the police and relevant government agencies to bring to book perpetrators of femicide as this is seen as a global phenomenon that needs to be tackled.