The Kogi State Police Command has verified the arrest of Jeremiah Paul, a 100-level biology student at Federal University Lokoja, for the death of a female colleague, Abigail Damilola.
The suspect, from Kaduna State, admitted to kidnapping Damilola, demanding a ransom of N400,000 from her family, and then killing her.
According to reports, Jeremiah took Damilola to an uncompleted building, where he killed her after receiving the payment.
He then phoned her family again, wanting an additional N10 million. However, police found him and arrested him.
During interrogation, Jeremiah maintained he acted alone and denied cutting off any pieces of Damilola’s body, despite police evidence that indicated otherwise.
He said that he killed her because she had seen his face and he did not want her to flee and reveal him.
William Aya, the state police public relations officer, verified the event with our correspondent over the phone on Thursday.
Aya stated that the deceased was reported missing, which prompted the police to take action, resulting in the arrest of the culprit.
He said, “The case of a missing person was reported to the police, and our officers swung into action, leading to the arrest of the suspect, Jeremiah Paul, a 21-year-old 100-level student of Federal University, Lokoja. He was arrested on Wednesday, and when interrogated, he said he kidnapped the girl on September 4.
“The suspect said he kidnapped her and demanded a ransom of N400,000 from the parent. According to him, after collecting the money, he strangled the girl and mutilated her body. He then buried her body in the Lokoja area. Yesterday, Wednesday, he led the police to the scene where he buried the girl.”
A video making the rounds on social media shows Jeremiah confessing to the crime, claiming it was his “first time.”
However, Aya disclosed that the remains of the deceased had been deposited at the mortuary.
“Investigation is still on to be sure if there are still other persons involved in the killing,” he added.
