Christiana Idowu, a 300-level student of the Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta, Ogun State, has been murdered after being kidnapped along the Ikorodu-Yaba Road in August. Christiana was on her way from her home in the Itaoluwo area of Ikorodu to the University of Lagos in Yaba, where she was completing her industrial training, when she was abducted.
Following a joint operation by security agencies, a suspect has since been arrested in connection with the kidnapping and murder.
The suspect reportedly confessed to security agencies that he killed Christiana Idowu and buried her body in their house. His actions have sparked outrage among many Nigerians on social media.
Outraged by the incident, many Nigerians took to Twitter to demand justice for Christiana Idowu, urging relevant authorities to ensure those responsible are held accountable.
The hashtag #JusticeForChristianah began trending as Nigerians voiced their demand for justice. An insider account by @Letter_to_Jack on “X” detailed the events: “On the 19th of August 2024, Christianah Idowu was declared missing after her parents were contacted by her abductors using her own WhatsApp contact. The first contact with the parents was made around 8:49 PM, after which they sent photos of the victim in captivity using the WhatsApp ‘view once’ feature.”
The abductors initially demanded a ransom of N1,500,000, but Christiannah’s parents were able to raise N350,000 immediately. The abductor instructed them to send the money to a betting account via a bank deposit channel.
After receiving the partial payment, the abductor requested the bank statement of the sender to be sent to an email address, which the family complied with on August 23rd. Following this, the abductor ceased communication with the parents.
On August 22nd, a portion of the ransom was transferred to a GTB account in Christiannah’s name. The funds were then withdrawn and deposited into a Wema Bank account belonging to the main suspect, whose name is currently withheld.
Intelligence operatives began their investigation on August 26th to uncover details related to the account numbers involved. By August 29th, they confirmed with the bank that the BVN linked to the masked betting account allegedly belonged to the individual who also operates the Wema Bank account. The suspect’s name and account number are currently withheld.
Further investigation revealed that the suspect managed to withdraw 100,000 from the betting account before law enforcement intervened and had the account locked. With this information, operatives began scrutinizing the suspect, noting that he appeared to have a mutual relationship with Christiannah Idowu, as evidenced by their interactions on Instagram.
Interestingly, the same account number used to launder money from Christiannah’s account had previously been posted on Twitter to “beg for giveaway free money.”
With the gathered information, operatives began tracking the suspect’s cell phone activities and text messages. This tracking led them to his parents’ house in Ikorodu. Confirming his presence through active tracking of his mobile device, the Nigerian Army’s 174 Battalion swiftly intervened to arrest the suspect. During the arrest, significant evidence was found, including the victim’s blue ITEL A56 phone with IMEI: 35230.
Additionally, the suspect’s phones contained records of the money transactions and details confirming that he owned the betting account, which was registered with his phone number. Evidence on his phone also revealed interactions between his personal email and the email address used to communicate with Christiannah Idowu’s family.
After reviewing this evidence, the suspect was taken into custody to allow for further investigation.
On September 3, the suspect reportedly confessed to both Christiannah Idowu’s father and the soldiers that he killed her and buried her at their home. Additionally, there are unconfirmed reports suggesting that the suspect’s ex-girlfriend was killed in a similar manner in 2018, and that his biological sister met the same fate in 2020. The recent incident with Christiannah in 2024 adds to these disturbing claims.
