The Kogi State Police Command parred four suspects who have been believed to be involved in the death of Damilola Olowoyo, a 19-year-old first-year student at the Federal University, Lokoja.
The suspects, according to the police, were Jeremiah Paul, Emmanuel Otitoju, Barnabas Olugbenga, and Ajayi Ayomide; they were presented at the police headquarters on Friday. The police noted that the prime suspect, Jeremiah Paul, had decided to the victim and taken her into the bush where she was killed for the purpose of using her for ritual purposes.
While providing details about the incident, the Police Public Relations Officer, SP William Aya, disclosed that the command had received the notification of the incident in the which stated with the family reporting the disapperance of the victim. He noted that when the complaint was received, the commissioner of police in the state ad assigned the incident to the State Intelligence Department. for investigation.
He noted that the prime suspect, Jeremiah Paul, was arrested by the police after the officer and the technical department of the police combined and tracked the suspect with technological apparatus. The PPRO noted that when the suspect was arrested, he confessed to deceiving the victim and taking her into the bush on September 4, 2024, by deceiving her of his interest. The suspect disclosed that he had given the lady a drink contaminated with codeine, which made her weak.
The suspect later took the victim to an uncompleted building, where she was strangled to death. In addition to killing the victim, the suspect harvested some parts of the body of the victim, such as her eyes, lungs, liver, tongue, and part of her buttocks. The PPRO noted that the suspect had removed them to be used for ritual.
The prime suspect, according to the police, had demanded the family pay a ransom of N400,000, which was sent to her before the victim was killed. The police noted that before the actual killing of the suspect, one of the suspects had approved the victim but failed to accomplish his aim when the terms of the relationship were strict.
After the failed attempt, the suspect, Paul, collaborated with his friend, who hails from Kaduna state, to commit the murder.
The PPRO warned that most of the students who are found in the school compounds were with bad motives which indicates the need for students to be vigilant and beware of those they associate with. The PPRO further expressed his surprise with a 20-year-old boy going into the act of killing someone for ritual purposes.
The PPRO assured the police that they were intensifying efforts to rid the state of criminal elements, remarking that the police and other security agencies were keeping an eagle eye on all criminals. He further noted that Kogi State was the worst place for criminals to leave. He disclosed that the suspects would be sent to court when the police investigations were completed.
During interrogations, one of the suspects, Jeremiah Paul, 20, who hails from Chikun Local Government Area of Kaduna State, accepted the allegations, explaining that he had committed the crime.
He explained that his encounter with the victim was less than two weeks before he lured her into the bush where she was killed; he noted that, at first instance, his intentions were to use the victim for ritual.
Another suspect Olugbenga disclosed that the ritualist was found on the social media and he stays in Ibadan, he noted that they had tavled to the state for some ritual purpose in the past and a ritaul soap was handed them.
He denied that he was not aware that the prime suspect had planned to kill the victim. He explained that the ritual stop handed to him by the native doctor was for cleaning, and he uses it to bathe at night outside.
The third suspect Emmanuel Otitoju, a 24-year-old first-year student in the Sociology Department at Federal University Lokoja, denied any involvement in the crime, explaining that he had met Damilola but discovered she was 16 years which resulted in his withdrawal from dating her.
The fourth suspect, Ayomide, a 19-year-old third-year student of Microbiology at Federal University Lokoja, also noted that he was not aware of any murder plans by the prime suspect; he noted that one of the other suspects had asked him to stay in his apartment when he was travelling to Ibadan.
He noted that he was only informed of the money they received. According to him, the suspects had taken N400,000 and used it to buy phones and food.
