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 WASSCE candidate, Florence, said to be his former student, after allegedly drugging and kidnapping her for ransom.

According to police sources, the suspect allegedly lured the teenager to an academic coaching class before taking her to an unfinished building where she was held captive.

Investigators said Baiyegun later demanded a ransom from the victim’s father and allegedly spent the N500,000 eventually paid on online sports betting.

Police sources further alleged that the suspect attempted to pressure the teenager into a relationship with one of his friends, identified simply as Sola, after reconnecting with her about a year after she left his former school.

The source added that Baiyegun allegedly administered multiple doses of D5 sleeping tablets to the victim after she complained she could not sleep in the abandoned building where she was being kept.

“He claimed the death was accidental, but preliminary investigations also revealed alleged involvement in internet fraud activities. The suspect had reportedly requested nude photographs from the deceased in the past,” the source said.

The suspect allegedly dumped the victim’s body in a river in the Ogijo area after discovering she was gasping for breath.

In a confessional statement obtained, Baiyegun admitted that he was close to Florence but denied having any romantic relationship with her.

He explained that he taught Physics and Further Mathematics at a private school in Ogijo and first met the victim while she was a student at his former school.

According to him, they later lost contact after he severed communication with her following an incident involving the school principal.

Baiyegun said they reconnected on April 7 after Florence approached him while he was filming content for his Instagram page.

He claimed the teenager told him she intended to retake WASSCE after failing Mathematics and English in her previous examination, prompting him to introduce her to his coaching classes.

Narrating the events that allegedly led to the crime, Baiyegun said his friend, Sola, had repeatedly expressed interest in dating Florence.

He claimed he invited her to his new school on April 8 and introduced her to Sola behind the school premises before leaving them briefly to attend to a class.

According to him, when he returned, Florence told him that Sola demanded sex from her, but she declined because she was menstruating.

The suspect said the teenager later asked him for transport fare, but he had no money.

He admitted that they subsequently planned a fake kidnap to extort money from her family.

“I used her phone to negotiate a ransom of N3m from her father. After she complained she could not sleep, I gave her four doses of D5 sleeping tablets,” he reportedly stated.

Baiyegun added that after attending a burial ceremony on April 11, he returned to discover the girl gasping for breath.

“I took her on a bike to a river around the MTN area and dumped her body there,” he confessed.

He further admitted that despite already knowing the victim was dead, he still collected N500,000 ransom from her father after promising she would be released.

“I spent almost all the money on online sports betting, and I regret it now,” he added.

Reacting to the incident, Ogun State Police Command spokesperson, CSP Omolola Odutola, commended operatives of the Anti-Kidnapping Unit for the arrest and urged residents to remain vigilant about the people around them.

The command also praised the Commissioner of Police, , for supporting intelligence-led policing and anti-kidnapping operations in the state.