Dare Babalola
The Lagos State Police Command has arrested two young men suspected of kidnapping and killing a 17-year-old Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) candidate, Thompson Adams, in the Ikorodu area of Lagos State.
The suspects, identified as Elijah Emmanuel, 23, and Tony Ekwen Ogenata, 21, were apprehended after police operatives traced them through intelligence gathering.
Lagos State Commissioner of Police, Fatai Tijani, disclosed the development on Wednesday while briefing journalists at the command headquarters in Ikeja.
According to the police commissioner, the suspects were arrested on Monday at about 8pm in the Lucky Fibre area of Ikorodu.
Tijani said preliminary investigations showed that Adams was abducted and killed on April 22, 2026, shortly after returning from where he had gone to sit for the ongoing UTME examination.
He explained that the deceased had known the suspects personally, as they were former secondary schoolmates.
“On April 27, 2026, at about 20:00 hours, operatives of the command, acting on credible intelligence, traced and arrested suspected kidnappers at Lucky Fibre, Ikorodu, Lagos.
“The suspects are Elijah Emmanuel, 23, and Tony Ekwen Ogenata, 21. Criminal investigation revealed that the suspects are linked to the kidnapping and gruesome murder of one Thompson Adams, aged 17, which occurred on April 22, 2026,” the commissioner disclosed.
He added, “The two boys went out with their friend, Adams, who was their secondary schoolmate. Along the line, they murdered him.”
Police said the suspects allegedly killed the teenager after luring him to their residence.
Investigators further discovered that after committing the crime, the suspects stuffed Adams’ body into a bag before dumping it at an undisclosed location within the community.
The police commissioner also revealed that ongoing interrogation linked the two suspects to another kidnapping and murder case involving a female victim in November 2025.
According to Tijani, the female victim was reportedly in a relationship with one of the suspects at the time.
“Investigation revealed that they had earlier kidnapped and murdered a female victim on November 30, 2025. The victim was a girlfriend of one of them. They contacted her parents and demanded ransom,” he said.
He stated that despite receiving N300,000 from the victim’s family, the suspects still went ahead to kill her.
“After collecting the N300,000, they still went ahead and murdered the lady,” Tijani added.
The commissioner assured that the suspects would be charged to court as soon as investigations are concluded.
The shocking killing of the teenage examination candidate has sparked renewed concern over insecurity and violent crimes involving young persons in parts of Lagos, particularly in the Ikorodu axis.
The incident comes amid growing calls for stronger community surveillance and improved policing to curb kidnapping, cult violence and other criminal activities across the state.
