The father of Christiana Idowu, a 300-level student of the Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta, has appealed to Nigerians for assistance, lamenting that one year after her murder, the trial of the alleged killer, 23-year-old Ayomide Adeleye, seems to have stalled.
According to reports in August 2024 that Christiana was abducted while travelling from her home in Itaoluwo, Ikorodu, to the University of Lagos, Yaba, where she was undergoing industrial training.
The Lagos State Police Command later confirmed that the Nigerian Army handed over Adeleye, a philosophy student of Olabisi Onabanjo University, who admitted to killing Christiana after luring her to his home under the guise of fixing her phone.
“I killed her because I had financial problems,” Adeleye was quoted as saying in his disturbing confession.
He also recounted strangling her and extorting N360,000 from her mother while pretending she was still alive.
His arrest followed an investigation that tracked his SportyBet account, where he had uploaded his National Identification Number.
A year later, Christiana’s father, Idowu Oluwafemi, expressed frustration over the silence surrounding the case in a video obtained by PUNCH Online on Sunday.
“Hello Nigerians, I’m Mr. Idowu Oluwafemi, the father of Christiana Idowu, who was murdered by a friend.
“It’s getting to a year now and the boy was arrested in the police custody. I’ve not heard anything concerning the case,” he said.
Oluwafemi described his late daughter as exceptionally intelligent and appealed for public support.
“My daughter, she’s all that brilliant and I want you Nigerians to come to my aid. It’s a girl of 300 level in FUNAAB, and up to a year now I’ve not heard anything about a case.
“Please, I’m helpless, I’m in the dark, and I want you Nigerians to come to my aid and help me.
“Please, I can’t just allow a girl just to go like that. Please, Nigerians, come to my aid. I don’t know whether the guy has been released at the moment. Please, help me, kindly help me. Please, Nigerians,” the grieving father said.
In reaction to the video, Force Public Relations Officer Benjamin Hundeyin—who served as Lagos State Police Command spokesperson when the case first broke—confirmed that Adeleye remained in custody, citing a January 2025 statement from the Nigerian Correctional Service.
Hundeyin explained that the suspect had been duly remanded and the matter was awaiting advice from the Department of Public Prosecution, stressing that the Correctional Service’s clarification showed Adeleye had not been released.