It was a tale of wailing and anguish following the murder of 18-year-old girl Ruheinat Oiza Isah in a local hotel and bar at Nagazi Uvete in Adavi Local Government Area of Kogi State.
This murder comes barely nine months after the mindless kidnap and killing of a 19-year-old, 100-level student of the Federal University, Lokoja, Damilola Oluwoyo, for ritual purposes.
Though the Kogi State Police Command had arrested and paraded four suspects over the killing of Damilola Oluwoyo, not much has been heard of the case, even though the prime suspect, Jeremiah Paul, 20, who hails from Chikun Local Government Area of Kaduna State, had confessed to committing the crime.
I Killed Her For Rituals – 20-year-old Suspect
In his confessional statement, Paul said, “I came to Kogi State to hustle. I met Damilola last Sunday and approached her, and she accepted. We started chatting. I already had it in mind that I wanted to use Damilola for rituals. I bought codeine and Sprite, mixed them up, and gave them to her.
“I first drank it so that she wouldn’t suspect it. When she drank it, I told her, ‘Let us go to my house,’ and she agreed. When she felt weak, I took her to an uncompleted building close to my place and strangled her to death. The cloth she was wearing, I used it to tie her leg and neck. I later dragged her to a nearby bush and removed what the native doctor told me to remove.”
The family of Ruheinat Oiza Isah are, however, demanding justice for their daughter, urging the police authorities not to allow the death of the girl to go in vain like others.
“The most unfortunate aspect is that this Area 8 Joint, Nagazi, as it’s called in Adavi Local Government Area of Kogi State—by daytime, it looks like an ordinary drinking spot, but by night, residents say, it turns into a guest house—and it’s here that the police discovered the lifeless body of Ruheinat Oiza Isah.
According to the family, Oiza was last seen in the early hours of 7 June 2025 before she was found lying in a pool of her blood inside the room.
Mariam Onize, the deceased’s best friend, and Ahmed Lawal, a resident of Inopepe Nagazi community, told our correspondent that the teenage girl had apparently come to a supposed hotel to meet someone she probably trusted.
The police post in the area also confirmed that the bar was not licensed as a hotel.
A community leader in the area, Salihu Lamidi, said the village authorities were unaware that the premises offered room services until the incident happened.
When LEADERSHIP visited the Isah family compound in Nagazi, there was grief, anguish and suspicion.
The family members alleged that their daughter may have been drugged and used for money rituals, a claim the police said they had yet to verify.
The victim’s father, Isah Abdulrahman, and brother, Isah Abdulrasheed, described her as a very disciplined and obedient child who had never engaged in questionable behaviour.
They charged the police to unravel the mystery behind Oyiza’s gruesome murder.
The victim’s family, however, expressed worry that the case was not receiving the desired attention.
As the family and the public await the conduct of an autopsy, and as the community tries to overcome their shock, the Isah family says it will not rest until the full truth is unravelled.
Prime Suspect In Custody
Kogi State Police Command confirmed to our correspondent that the prime suspect, identified as Ahmed Tajudeen, who initially fled after the incident, is now in custody and cooperating with the authorities in their investigation.
The state Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), SP William Ovye Aya, allayed the parents’ fears, saying the police will stop at nothing until justice is served.
He appealed to parents and students to be conscious of people they interact with.
Aya said: “You may be seeing somebody as a human being, but he is not. This act that Jeremiah Paul and his gang have carried out is inhuman. Imagine a 20-year-old boy going this far—killing an innocent lady and removing her sensitive parts in the name of carrying out rituals.”
Aya further assured that the command will arraign the suspect as soon as the investigation is concluded.
He warned that the case of Oiza and others in similar situations should signal to all criminals in Kogi State that the police and other security agencies are vigilant in arresting criminal elements in the state.
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