The Lagos State Police Command has debunked reports that a murder suspect, Ayomide Adeleye, who confessed last year to the killing of a 300-level student of the Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta, Ogun State, Christianah Idowu, has been released from custody and was never remanded in prison for the murder.
Ripples Nigeria had in September, 2024, reported how Adeleye, a 200-level Philosophy student at Olabisi Onabanjo University, confessed to killing Idowu who was his friend and co-choir member in the Ikorodu area of Lagos. He had gone ahead to extort money from her mother on the pretext of having kidnapped her.
After his arrest, Adeleye was arraigned at the Ogba Magistrate Court which ordered that he should be remanded at the Ikoyi Correctional Center pending advice from the Directorate of Public Prosecutions.
But a report which went viral on Saturday, and forced the police to issue a rebuttal, was carried in FIJ.ng, a publication run by investigative journalist, Fisayo Soyombo, with the caption ‘CONFIRMED: Confessed Killer Ayomide Adeleye Not in Prison, Never Remanded for Murder,’ had many pointing accusing fingers at the police and the judiciary.
CONFIRMED: Confessed Killer Ayomide Adeleye Not in Prison, Never Remanded for Murder
— 'Fisayo Soyombo (@fisayosoyombo) January 4, 2025
However, in a clarification statement on Sunday by the State Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), SP Benjamin Hundeyin, the police said Adeleye was duly and properly charged with murder and is still being remanded for the offence and at no time was he released from prison custody.
“We can confirm that Ayomide Adeleye was charged with murder and was remanded for the same offence,” the PPRO said.
“It is also a fact that another person bearing the same name was remanded for a different offence and released in April 2024, long before the Ayomide we are talking about committed his offence.
“An outfit that prides itself on investigation should live up to its name. Relying on ‘sources’ rather than the spokesperson of the Correctional Service would land you in this kind of misinformation”, he said.
We can confirm that Ayomide Adeleye was charged with murder and was remanded for the same offence.
It is also a fact that another person bearing the same name was remanded for a different offence and released in April 2024, long before the Ayomide we are talking about committed… pic.twitter.com/sEaMJ8iKpA
— SP Benjamin Hundeyin (@BenHundeyin) January 4, 2025