The alleged kidnappers of three female students of Babington Macaulay Junior Seminary in Ikorodu,
Lagos State,have been paraded.
The girls — Timilehin Olosa, Tofunmi Popoola and Deborah Akinayo — were kidnapped by gunmen on Monday on their school premises.
One of the
security agents involved in the rescue operation told Punch that it was discovered
that the victims were initially taken to Adamo forest immediately after
their abduction.
Adamo forest is across the river in Lugbusi community, where the school is situated in Ikorodu.
The source said,
“We gathered that the kidnappers were 12 men, and they came in eight canoes. They used seven AK-47 rifles for the operation.“One of the men, who we later identified as Lamiameni, brought the kidnapping job to the gang, while another member, known as Felix, alias Tradition, was the one communicating with the families for ransom negotiation.”
Another source said from the forest, the
gang moved to a creek, located between Ikorodu and Epe, Lagos State,
where they also held the girls.
Security agents were said to have had
the first break on March 4, when a suspected kidnapper, Emmanuel
Arigidi, aged 37, was sent by the gang from the creeks to buy
foodstuffs.
He was said to have bought foodstuffs
big enough for an army, which confirmed the suspicion that he was a
member of the gang. He was subsequently arrested.
He said, “Arigidi broke down during interrogation and confessed to being a member of the gang that stole the schoolgirls. He gave us the direction to the place they were keeping the girls, and mentioned the names of other members. He even promised to lead the operatives to the location.”
It was gathered that after waiting for
Arigidi for two days, the gang sensed that something was amiss and
thereafter moved to an area around Igbo Okuta Bridge, Imota, Ikorodu.
It was gathered that possible hiding places had been discussed among the gang members during the planning of the kidnapping.
When security operatives therefore
noticed that there were no activities in the creek, they suspected that
the gang had fled the area. But Arigidi had no problem in revealing the
place they could be.
Also, the relatives of suspected
abductors mentioned by Arigidi were said to have been rounded up and
made to plead with their people on the telephone to release the girls.
It was learnt that the fathers of two of
the suspected kidnappers were allowed on Saturday to go after their
sons to talk to them and other gang members to release the girls.
“At about 5am on Sunday, over 500 operatives, comprising the IG team, the Lagos State Police Command and other security agencies stormed Imota and rescued the schoolgirls at the Igbo Okuta Bridge area of Ikorodu,” a source said. Two other suspected kidnappers were arrested during the operation.
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