KEY POINTS
- FUNAAB student Christiana Idowu was killed despite a ransom payment.
- The kidnappers initially demanded N3 million but settled for N350,000.
- Police traced the suspect using bank and cellphone data.
Christiana Idowu, a student of the Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta (FUNAAB), Ogun State was killed by her kidnappers in Lagos State after her family had paid the full ransom they demanded.
Idowu was kidnapped during her movement from Ikorodu to Yaba, Lagos where she was doing her industrial training.
The student union president of FUNAAB Ibrahim Adeyemi also confirmed her death through a phone interview saying:
“The Union can confirm that she was reportedly killed by her abductor. We will be making a formal statement on the incident soon.”
Ransom payment and investigation
According to a report by Punchng, the kidnappers of Christiana had first demanded the sum of N3 million ($3,900) from the family after they took her hostage.
After some negotiations, the family was able to convince the kidnappers to take the sum of N350,000 ($455) which they sent to the account number the kidnappers had given. But after the payment was done, the kidnappers refused to let her go.
An intelligence operation was useful in uncovering the details regarding the transaction. A user on X (formerly Twitter) reported that operatives were able to discover the identity of the suspect by tracking the bank account with its BVN.
They found out that the account used in receiving the ransom was a masked betting account. With due diligence, the authorities eventually uncovered the identity of the suspect and his hideout in Ikorodu, Lagos.
Suspect traced by authorities
A deeper investigation into the suspect social media accounts showed that the suspect was acquainted with Christianah and lives in the same neighbourhood as her family in Ikorodu.
Intelligence Operations unravelled the house of the suspect’s parents by tracking his cell phone and social media activities.
Efforts made to get the opinions of the victim’s family and the Lagos State Police proved futile. This does not affect the continuity of the investigation in any way. Law enforcement agencies are committed to bringing the suspect to justice.
