The entire community of Ago-Tapa, Okokomaiko, in Ojo area of
Lagos State was thrown into confusion last week following the kidnap of three
four-year-old children. The three, two
males and one female were identified as Chibuzor Nwosu, Bayo Adeyemi and
Barakat Saka.
According to sources said that Chibuzor Nwosu, male, was
kidnapped on June 24; Miss Barakat Saka, female, four-year-old got missing June
28, and Bayo Adeyemi, male, was abducted on June 28. Bayo, a pupil of Fazil
Omar Ahmadiyya, Primary School, Okokomaiko, was said to have been kidnapped on
his way home after the closing hour.
According to the report, the kidnappers’ inability to gain
access to the school premises made them wait outside until the pupils were
leaving for their respective homes.
In an interview with Vanguard, the chairman of the School
Management Committee, Mr. Sheriff Adebayo, did not disclose the identity of the
last victim, but lamented that the kidnappers abducted the pupil while
returning from school.
He narrated that the child and his elder brother were on
their way home when the abductors, who were in a bus, accosted them on the road
and gave the elder brother N100 note, to buy candy and biscuits. The victim’s
elder brother demanded to go on the errand with the victim, but they ordered
him to leave his brother behind. On his return, he added that the child
discovered the bus was leaving the scene. And because he is a child, rather
than raise alarm, he ran home to alert the mother and before they arrived the
kidnappers had disappeared.
His words, “immediately I heard about it, I called the
Education secretary and he also said that was what he heard. And since then, I
have set up community security to forestall future occurrence. Also, we have
decided to hold Parent Teachers Association, PTA meeting to intimate parents on
the need to bring their children to school and return after closing hour to
pick their children. We believe with that, kidnappers will not have opportunity
to have access to any child.”
A top official in Ojo Local Government, who spoke under
condition of anonymity, lamented “it is true that one of the pupils was
kidnapped last Tuesday after the close of school. Also, two others were
kidnapped though they are not pupils of our school.
"The pupils closed at 1 pm and the mother returned to the
school at about 1:57 pm with the victim’s elder brother, to report that her
child has been kidnapped by some unknown me. And immediately we heard that, we
swung into action to assist in the rescue, that is, we reported to the
Okokomaiko police Station before we were directed to Ojo police station. And
they promised to expedite action in the rescue.
"As at the close of work on Friday, we are yet to get any
response from the police. The council has written formal report to the State
Universal Basic Education Board, SUBEB, to alert them about the incident. The
council has also called for a meeting of Head Teachers, to sensitize them on
the need to be security conscious. Though we have beefed up security within our
schools," he added.
Police Public Relation Officer, PPRO, Lagos Command, CSP
Dolapo Badmus, said, "There are only two reported cases right now. The first is
a 4 year old child that got missed from the school compound while the second
got missing while playing in her grandma’s shop in a market place. The division
is investigating the cases." She added.
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