L-R: The late Christiana and Ayomide.
By Idowu Taiwo
If Ayomide Adeleye, a 24-year-old philosophy student at Olabisi Onabanjo University, had foreseen the consequences of taking another human life, he might have chosen to remain poor.
He tried to take his own life after his arrest, using any sharp object he could find, but security officers intervened and stopped him.
It had been over six months since Ayomide had been home when Christiana Idowu, an 18-year-old Industrial Training (IT) student at Yaba College of Technology, reached out to him.
They had met through church, and for the past three years, Christiana had occasionally asked Ayomide to help her with her phone.
She contacted him again while he was at university, asking for his help to fix her phone.
When Ayomide returned to Lagos after his school session ended, Christiana visited his home on the evening of August 26, 2024.
She came with her phone and some belongings, and after inspecting her phone, Ayomide realised it had a battery problem and a faulty screen.
However, Christiana was unwilling to replace the battery and was content to continue using it as it was.
Faced with financial difficulties, Ayomide made a chilling decision. As Christiana was distracted by a video on his phone, he strangled her.
He then called her mother, pretending that Christiana had been kidnapped, and demanded a ransom.
In Ayomide’s words, he did not strike her violently but rather grabbed her when she wasn’t expecting it.
The weather was drizzly and noisy, providing cover for his attack.
As she struggled for her life, he tightened his grip on her throat until she was lifeless.
He then placed her body on a chair and took a photograph to send to her mother as proof of the “kidnapping.”
That night, around 11 p.m., Ayomide attempted to dig a grave for Christiana’s body in a small farm behind his house.
The rain had softened the ground, but he couldn’t dig deep enough to bury her properly.
Exhausted and with blisters on his hands, he considered cutting off her head to make the burial easier, but couldn’t bring himself to do it.
Instead, he continued digging until he could bury her in a shallow grave.
The following morning, after contacting Christiana’s mother and demanding a ransom of ₦3,000,000, Ayomide realised that she couldn’t afford the amount.
After some negotiation, her mother managed to gather ₦350,000, which she transferred to a SportyBet account Ayomide had provided to avoid detection.
However, he couldn’t withdraw the money immediately due to SportyBet’s rules, which required him to place a bet before withdrawing any funds.
Eventually, after sending his National Identification Number (NIN) for verification, the money was released three days later.
Christiana’s mother later transferred an additional ₦10,000, bringing the total ransom to ₦360,000. Ayomide used the money to address his financial issues.
During the ransom exchanges, Christiana’s mother had requested video or voice proof of her daughter’s safety, but Ayomide could only send the photograph he had taken, as Christiana was already dead.
On September 5, 2024, Ayomide was eventually arrested by soldiers, who traced him through the SportyBet account after he had uploaded his National Identification Number (NIN) for verification.
With his personal information now linked to the account, it became easy for the authorities to track him down.
Reflecting on his actions, Ayomide expressed deep regret.
He acknowledged that Christiana was a close friend, and their mothers were also friends.
He admitted that what he had done was wrong and asked for God’s forgiveness, even though he believed he deserved death for his crime.
He had even contemplated suicide, attempting to harm himself while in custody, but was stopped by guards.
In the end, Ayomide’s love of money drove him to commit a heinous act, one that would not only end an innocent life but also destroy his own.
