#JusticeForChristianah: Police not aware of FUNAAB student kidnapped, murdered in Lagos

The police in Lagos State say they are not “officially” aware of the kidnap and murder of a 300-level student of the Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta, Ogun State.

Benjamin Hindeyin, the pilice’s spokesperson in the state, told PREMIUM TIMES on Thursday that “the case has not been reported to us.”

Abduction, murder

Christiana Idowu was abducted along the Ikorodu-Yaba Road, Lagos in August.

Ayomide Adeleye, a 200-Level Philosophy student of the Olabisi Onabanjo University (OOU), Ogun State is the prime suspect in the murder case.

According to the Punch newspaper, the deceased was kidnapped when she left her Ikorodu home to the University of Lagos where she was undergoing industrial training.

The newspaper reported that the kidnappers made contact with the victim’s family and demanded N3 million as a ransom for her release.

“They are communicating with the family through her WhatsApp, demanding N3 million. We appealed to them and it was reduced to N1 million, then N500,000 and later they asked us to pay N350,000,” a family disclosed.

“After we paid the N350,000 ransom, they refused to release her and they were demanding that we send the bank statement of the account we made the transfer from before they would release her to us.”

Suspect

Mr Hundeyin said that he had contacted the military who has been handling the case from the onset.

“The military confirms that the suspect is with them and they will hand over very soon,” the spokesperson told PREMIUM TIMES.

The Foundation of Investigative Journalism also provided insight into how the suspect was located and arrested by the military on Sunday.

The online newspaper said that the 174 Batallion tracked the deceased’s phone to the suspect’s residence where they picked him up.

He confessed to killing and burying her in a shallow grave in his compound.

The medium reported that the suspect made an attempt to rape her but she resisted.

#JusticeForChristianah

Her murder is generating a buzz across social media platforms in the country, especially on X.

Using the #JusticeForChristianah, many users including the Nigerian hip pop star, Ayra Starr, demand justice.

“Stop killing us! Stop raping us! Women deserve better,” the Grammy nominee posted. Her post alone has been seen by over one million people.

Also, Chinonso Egemba, a medical expert popularly called ‘Aproko doctor’, urged the enforcement authorities to ensure that “members of his (suspect) family who also covered up the previous murders should face the law.

There are insinuations that the suspect had previously killed his sister and girlfriend before this recent development. However, PREMIUM TIMES has not been able to verify the claim.

In light of the trending issue, Rita @FGirlrita advised women to be security conscious and go out with “safe tools.”

She also mentioned the tools to include, “a big size taser, a combo knife, pepper spray and lipstick taser not expensive.”

Gender-based violence

Nigeria has continued to record an increase in sexual and gender-based violence.

Lagos, for instance, recorded 24,009 cases of gender-based violence in the last five years between January 2019 and December 2023.

Also, in the northern part of the country, the Salma Sexual Assault Referral Centre (SARC) in Kafanchan, Kaduna State recorded 3,977 cases of sexual and gender-based violence since its inception in 2019.

A civil society, DOHS Cares recently marched to the Lagos State House of Assembly to demand legislation against femicide — the intentional killing of a woman because of her gender.