A 30-year-old private school teacher, Nathaniel Baiyegun, has been arrested by the Ogun State Police Command for allegedly killing a 16-year-old West African Senior School Certificate Examination candidate, identified as Florence.
PrimeTimes Nigeria reports that the victim was said to be Baiyegun’s former student.
Saturday Punch learnt from a police source on Friday that the suspect allegedly lured the teenager to the scene under the guise of attending an academic coaching class.
A police source said Baiyegun allegedly demanded ₦500,000 from the victim’s father after the incident and later confessed to spending the money on online sports betting.
“The suspect allegedly reconnected with the teenager about a year after she left his former school and attempted to force her into a relationship with his friend, identified simply as Sola,” the source said.
The source added that the suspect allegedly kept the girl in an unfinished building and gave her sleeping tablets.
He was also alleged to have been involved in internet fraud and to have previously requested inappropriate images from the deceased.
‘We Were Close, No Relationship’
In a confessional statement, Baiyegun said he was close to Florence but denied having an amorous relationship with her.
He stated, “I am a teacher at a private school in Ogijo, and she was one of the students in my former school. She was not one of my direct students because she was in the humanities, while I teach only science students. I was not teaching her class. I was teaching Physics and Further Mathematics.
“We became very close, but there was no amorous relationship between us. At times, she would go to my table in the staff room and drop gifts for me, even when I was not around. That was just it until I deleted her number from my phone and told her not to call me again.”
The suspect said he cut ties with her after she allegedly asked him to lie to their former principal about her whereabouts.
He said, “She lied to our then principal that she was coming to return my power bank to me after she was caught at a faraway location.
“It was true that I gave her my power bank, but she returned it to me at school. So, when she called me to tell me that I should help her lie to the principal that she had come to return my power bank when he saw her, I was very upset, and I severed my relationship with her.”
How They Reconnected
Baiyegun said he reconnected with Florence on April 7 while shooting content for his Instagram page in the community.
“The last time I saw her before April 7 this year was last year, after her WAEC. She was the one who saw me and called me. I asked her if she was writing UTME, but she told me that she did not do well in her O-Level results. She failed Mathematics and English and wanted to write WASSCE again,” he said.
He said they exchanged contact details again, after which he introduced her to his JAMB and WAEC coaching classes.
The suspect claimed that a friend, identified as Sola, had expressed interest in dating Florence.
He said he called the victim to his new school on April 8 and introduced her to Sola behind the school premises before leaving them to attend a class.
According to him, when he returned, Sola had left, and Florence requested transport fare, but he said he had no money.
He claimed they later planned a fake kidnapping to extort money from her family.
The teacher stated, “I took her to an uncompleted building at the back of our school and used her phone to negotiate a ransom of ₦3m from her father.
“She complained to me that she could not sleep well the first day she slept in the uncompleted building. After she complained that she was scared and that she could not sleep, I gave her four dosages of D5 sleeping tablets and left her there.”
Baiyegun said that when he returned later, he found her in distress and moved her away from the building. He added that he lied to a motorcycle rider that the girl was sick and that he was taking her for treatment.
‘I Spent Ransom On Betting’
The suspect said the victim’s father later paid ₦500,000, but he did not disclose that the girl was already dead.
“I lied to him that his daughter would be released as soon as the ransom was paid. I spent almost all the money on online sports betting, and I regret it now,” he said.
Reacting to the incident, the spokesperson for the Ogun State Police Command, Oluseyi Babaseyi, said the arrest was carried out by the Anti-Kidnapping Unit.
“The successful operation carried out by the Anti-Kidnapping Unit, leading to the arrest of the notorious suspect and recovery of incriminating exhibits, underscores the bravery, professionalism and unwavering dedication of the operatives,” he said.
Babaseyi commended the Inspector-General of Police, Olatunji Disu, and the Ogun State Commissioner of Police, Lanre Ogunlowo, for their support and operational leadership.
“The Ogun State Police Command assures residents that sustained efforts are being intensified to dismantle all criminal syndicates operating within the state and its environs, while urging members of the public to continue supporting security agencies with timely and credible information,” he added.