The Nigerian Army has confirmed the arrest of Adeleye Ayomide, the suspect responsible for the death of Idowu Christiana, a 300-level student of the Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta, Ogun State.
Christiana was abducted by suspected kidnappers along the Ikorodu-Yaba Road, Lagos State, on August 19, 2024.
A family source who spoke with PUNCH Metro on condition of anonymity earlier disclosed that the abductors initially demanded a ransom of N3 million before they could release the student.
However, after several pleas, the abductors accepted N350,000 which was sent to their account but they refused to free the kidnapped student.
When contacted on Thursday, the spokesperson, 81 Division Nigerian Army, Lt-Col. Olabisi Ayeni confirmed Ayomide’s arrest via a telephone interview with our correspondent.
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.”
Also, on Thursday, the Student Union Government president of FUNAAB, Ibrahim Adeyemi, confirmed Christiana’s death to one of our correspondents in a telephone conversation, saying, “The union can confirm that she was reportedly killed by her abductor. We will be addressing the matter soon.”
Christiana’s death has continued to attract reactions from concerned Nigerians, especially users of the social media platform, X (formerly Twitter).
The hashtag #JusticeForChristiana is one of the top trends on Nigeria’s X domain, with over 100,000 posts as of the time of filing this report.