From Joseph Amedu, Lokoja

The Kogi State Police Command has paraded four suspects in connection with the killing of Damilola Olowoyo a 19-year-old 100 level student at the Federal University Lokoja, Kogi State.

The four suspects paraded are Jeremiah Paul, Emmanuel Otitoju, Banabas Olugbenga and Ajayi Basit Ayomide.

Parading the suspects at the Police headquarters in Lokoja on Friday, the Police Public Relations Officer PPRO William Ovye Aya said that the prime suspect Jeremiah Paul lured the deceased to bush and killed her for money ritual.

Narrating how the suspects were arrested, Aya said there was a complaint to the Commissioner of Police about the disappearance of Damilola Orowoyo a 100 level student in the department Biological Science,  Federal University Lokoja.

He appealed to Parents and Students to be conscious of people they are moving with. Continuing, Aya said “You may be seeing somebody as a human being but he is not. This act that Jeremiah Paul and his gang have carried out is an inhuman act. Imagine a 20 years old Boy going this far of killing an innocent lady and removing her sensitive part in the name of carrying out rituals.

“It shows that the society we are living in needs to be very careful. Am calling on the Students across the various institutions to be very careful with their friends, course mates, neighbors they are mingling with. Some people will be within the school environment but they are not Students.

“Some may have admission and they are in school, but they have their own aim of being there. Students should be content with what they have. Because of a little thing, this girl lost her life. A 17 years old that has a future has been cut short by these criminals”.

He warned that the case of Jeremiah and his cohort should be a signal to all the criminals in Kogi State adding that the eagle eye of the Police and other security agencies is on all the criminal elements in the State.

Aya noted that the command will arraign the four suspects as soon as investigation is concluded,” he added.

The prime suspect Jeremiah Paul aged 20 who hailed from Chikun Local Government of Kaduna State confessed to committing the crime.

In his confessional statement, Paul said “I came to Kogi State to hustle. I met Damilola last Sunday and approached her in which she accepted. We started chatting. I already had it in mind that I want to use Damilola for ritual. I bought codeine and sprite and missed it and gave it to her.

Paul alleged accomplice,  Banabas Olugbenga, who was also paraded by the Kogi State Police command narrated his own side of the story “We were in Kaduna and we saw one Ifa on tiktok then we took his number and chatted him up so that he can do soap for us. When my friend gathered the money, we didn’t have money to lodge when we came to Lokoja. So, we decided to stay with a friend before we travel to Ibadan.

“When we traveled to Ibadan, we went and collected soap. My own soap is called soap for cleansing. Whenever I bathe with my soap, I am not allowed to come outside in the night, so that I won’t see any Woman or smoke. When I bath with the soap, I am hoping that I will get money within one week. I was not aware that Paul wanted to kill Damilola”.

On his part, Emmanuel Otitoju aged 24 who is a 100 level student in the department of sociology, Federal University Lokoja denied his involvement in the crime.

According to him “When I met the deceased, (Damilola) she told me that she had a misunderstanding with her Boyfriend which I told her to settle with him. The deceased told me she was 16 years and I responded that I can’t date her because of her age.

“I used to do hand work and am not a yahoo boy. I and Jeremiah stay in the same compound and we are neighbors. I was not aware that he was planning to kill Damilola”.

Also, another suspect Ajayi Basit Ayomide aged 19 who is a 300 level student in the department of microbiology from the Federal University Lokoja narrated how he met the other suspects.

“I was in a game shop when Barnabas called me to say that he is in Lokoja right now and is planning to travel to Ibadan. He told me that he will stay in my place for a while before he continues his journey. He brought his friend called Jeremiah that they are both traveling to Ibadan. They both stayed at my place for a while and they later travelled to Ibadan.

“They came back together and told me of their plans to travel to Kaduna but they don’t have money. They begged me to stay in my place for some time pending when they have money to travel. Since then, I was the one feeding them. I have no knowledge of the kidnap or killing of Damilola. Before we were arrested, Jeremiah and his friend told me that they cash out N400,000. They used the money to buy phones and food,” he stated.