Four individuals have been apprehended by the police in connection with the alleged murder of a female student at Federal University Lokoja in Kogi State.
The victim, a 17-year-old first-year Biology student, was allegedly kidnapped and killed by a 21-year-old man. The Police Public Relations Officer, SP Williams Ovye-Aya, announced this during a press briefing in Lokoja.
Ovye-Aya stated that the main suspect, Jeremiah Paul-Awe, conspired with three friends to commit the crime. He said that the police received a complaint from the victim’s father, Stephen Oluwoyo, who reported her missing and had received a ransom demand from an unknown number.
He said: “The Operatives of the Nigeria Police Force, attached to the State Intelligence Department, Kogi Command, on September 11 arrested one Jeremiah Paul-Awe of Chikun Local Government Area of Kaduna State. Paul-Awe was the one responsible for the kidnapping and killing of the victim.
“We received a complaint from one Stephen Oluwoyo that his daughter was missing and that he couldn’t reach her. The father further stated that he received a message from an unknown number that his daughter had been abducted and the abductor demanded a ransom.’’
Acting on intelligence and with the assistance of the Technical Intelligence Unit, the police arrested Paul-Awe on September 11. During interrogation, the suspect confessed to kidnapping and killing the victim on September 4. He revealed that he drugged and strangled her before mutilating her corpse.
He added: “During interrogation, the suspect confessed that he kidnapped and killed the victim, on September 4 at about 2030hrs. He further confessed that he drugged and later strangled her. He mutilated her corpse by removing her eyes, lung, liver, tongue, intestines, and other parts and dumped the corpse in the bush.
“The suspect further disclosed that immediately he killed his victim, he placed a call to the father and demanded a ransom to enable him meet up with the requirements for the rituals from a native doctor he met on TikTok. The father of the deceased, ignorant of her death, sent N400,000 as ransom to the suspect for her release.’’
Mr Ovye-Aya said that following Paul-Awe’s arrest, the police recovered the victim’s body and arrested three additional suspects who were involved in the crime. The body was deposited at the Federal Teaching Hospital Lokoja mortuary for an autopsy.
The corpse was deposited at the Federal Teaching Hospital Lokoja mortuary for autopsy.
The police spokesperson noted that the four suspects would be charged in court upon completion of the investigation.
