Jeremiah confesses: How I killed 17-year-old varsity student Damilola for money ritual

Jeremiah Paul and Damilola Oluwoyo, the murdered 17-year-old 100- level student of Federal University, Lokoja, FUL.

Published By: Ayorinde Oluokun

By Richard Elesho

The names Jeremiah and Paul evoke memories of strong Biblical characters. One was a Jewish major prophet in the Old Testament, while the other was an apostle and rallying point for Christian activities in the New Testament. But 20-year-old Jeremiah Paul, a native of Chikun, Kaduna State, is a total antitype whose exploits would make these religious personalities cringe in their graves.

He is one of the four young men currently singing to the Kogi State Police Command, Lokoja over their roles in the abduction and murder of Damilola Abigail Oluwoyo, a 17-year-old 100 lecel student of Biological Sciences, Federal University, Lokoja, FUL. In fact, Jeremiah is the prime suspect. He has owned up to the crime, explaining that he killed the girl for money rituals, modernised as Yahoo Plus, in contemporary Nigerian lexicon.

Jeremiah was paraded along with his three friends/ suspects at the Police Headquarters in Lokoja on Friday, 13 September. The three others are Emmanuel Otitoju, Barnabas Olugbenga, and Ajayi Basit Ayomide. Listen to Jeremiah’s confession.

“I came to Kogi State to hustle. I met Damilola last week 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 (mixed) it up and gave it to her.

“I first drank it so that she won’t suspect it. When She drank it, I told her to let us go to my house and she agreed. When she felt weak, I took her to an uncompleted building close to my place and strangled her to death. The cloth she was wearing, I used it to tie her leg and neck. I later dragged her to a nearby bush and removed what the native doctor told me to remove.

“The native doctor who resides in Ibadan sent a driver and brought calabash and a knife. In the calabash, he used black and white cotton to wrap the calabash and a red cloth to wrap the knife. It is the knife I used to remove part of her body, which is the eyes, tongue, lungs, intestine, and some part of her buttocks.

“I put it inside the calabash and wrapped it. I now gave it to the driver who he sent from Ibadan to Lokoja. So, the driver way-bill it back to Ibadan. After that, he will now way-bill my soap back to LoKoja. I met the native doctor on tiktok, and I copied his number and later message him on Whatsapp. I went with my friend to Ibadan to see the native doctor”.

Jeremiah and one of his friends

Jeremiah’s alleged accomplice, Barnabas Olugbenga, 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 could do soap for us. When my friend gathered the money, we don’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 travelled 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 I won’t see any woman or smoke. When I bathe with the soap, I am hoping that I will get money within one week. I was not aware that Paul wanted to kill Damilola”.

Also speaking, another suspect, Ajayi Basit Ayomide,19, a 300-level student in the department of micro biology from the FUL, narrated how he met the other suspects.

“I was in a game shop when Banabas called me that he is in Lokoja right now and is planning to travel to Ibadan. He told me that he would stay in my place for a while before he continued his journey. He brought his friend called Jeremiah that they are both travelling 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.

Emmanuel Otitoju, 24, a 100-level student in the department of sociology, FUL, denied involvement in the crime. Hear him:

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

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“I used to do handwork and am not a Yahoo boy. Me and Jeremiah stay in the same compound, and we are neighbours. I was not aware that he was planning to kill Damilola”.

Jeremiah and the bag of blag soap

Narrating how the suspects were arrested, Police Public Relations Officer, SP William Ovye Aya said there was a complain to the Commissioner of Police about the disappearance of Damilola Oluwoyo a 100 level student in the department Biological Science, Federal University Lokoja.

Parading the suspects at the Police headquarter in Lokoja on Friday, Aya noted the prime suspect Jeremiah lured the deceased to the bush and killed her for money ritual.

“The Operatives of the Nigeria Police Force, attached to the State Intelligence Department (SID), Kogi Command, on 11/09/2024 at about 1615hrs arrested a 21 years old Jeremiah Paul Awe of Chikun Local Government Area of Kaduna State who is responsible for the kidnapped and killing of 17 years old Damilola Abigail Oluwoyo, a 100 Level Student of Biology Department of Federal University Lokoja.

“This is consequence upon a complaint received on 6Th September, 2024 from one Stephen Oluwoyo that, his daughter Damilola was missing and that her GSM number could not be reached after her examination on 2nd September, 2024. He further stated that he received a message from an unknown GSM number that his daughter Damilola has been abducted and the abductor demanded for a ransom.

“The Operatives promptly swung into action through an actionable intelligence with the assistance of the Technical Intelligence Unit (TIU) from the Force Headquarters, trailed and arrested the suspect one Jeremiah Paul Awe on 11/09/2024 in Connection with the crime. During interrogation, the suspect confessed to having kidnapped and killed the victim, Damilola, on 4th September, 2024, at about 2030hrs. He further confessed that, he added a drug (codeine) into a drink and gave it to her to make her weak and lured her into a nearby bush close to his lodge at Felele area of Lokoja where he strangled her to death, mutilated her eyes, lung, liver, tongue, intestines, and fleshy parts of her buttocks and dumped the corpse in the bush.

“He further disclosed that, immediately he killed his victim, he placed a call to the father and demanded for a ransom to enable him meet up with the requirements for the rituals from the native doctor whom he met on TikTok. The father of the deceased sent the sum of N400,000 as ransom unknown to him that his daughter was already dead.

“On 11/09/2024, the suspect led the team of operatives to the scene where the corpse of late Damilola was recovered, evacuated, and deposited at the Federal Teaching Hospital Lokoja mortuary for autopsy.

“Further investigation led to the arrest of three other suspects: Barnabas Olugbenga 20 years old from Kaduna State; Ajani Basit Ayomide of Felele 20 years old; Emmanuel Otitoju 24 years, two of which are his friends who aided the crime,” Aya said.

He appealed to parents and students to be conscious of the kind of people they are moving with.

“You may be seeing somebody as 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 in killing an innocent lady and removing her sensitive parts in the name of carrying our rituals.

“It shows that the society we are living in people needs to be very careful. I am calling on students across the various institutions to be very careful with their friends, course mates, and 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 contented with what they have. Because of the little thing, this girl lost her life. A 17 years old that has a future has been cut short by these criminals,” Aya counselled.

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.

“We are now sending a warning to all criminals to beware that the effective collaboration of the Police and other security agencies with the support of the public, criminals will not have Kogi State as a safe haven to carry out their heinous acts.”

Aya noted that the command will arraign the four suspects as soon as the investigation is concluded.
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