LAGOS: Three Abducted School Girls Freed

The three abducted girls abducted penultimate Monday from Babington Macaulay Junior Seminary (BMJS), Ikorodu have regained their freedom as they were rescued at about 9:45am by a team led by Lagos State Commissioner of Police Fatai Owoseni.

The three girls; Oluwatimehin Olusa, Tofunmi Popoolaniyan and Deborah Akinayo were abducted from their classroom during prep last Monday but rescued in the early hours of Sunday according to the report by the Commissioner of Police.

Owoseni stated that the availability and use of modern sophisticated equipments contributed immensely to the successful rescue operation leading to the recovery of the three girls adding that the Command is capable of securing lives and properties of residents.

When asked on the techniques adopted in rescuing the school girls particularly the ransom paid, the Police boss stated that he was not aware of any ransom paid adding that it wasn’t part of the Police options as ransom promotes abduction in the society. He added however that the Polidce would continue to investigate the incident with the aim of getting to the root of it to avert future occurrences.

“Yes the girls have been rescued. I am with them and about to hand them over to their principal and parents. In continuation of our search for the girls, I received information that they were sighted at Imota area of Ikorodu. I went there to pick them up in my car and they are safe in police custody.

”They were rescued at about 9.44am today (Sunday). I can confirm that some of the suspects were arrested. We are not aware if ransom was paid.”

“They were rescued by the Imota police division. I carried the girls in my car and took them to the school to reunite them with their parents and loved ones. The girls are fine but we will not be exposing them to the media as a result of their age (14 years).

“They have gone to shower and after that, their parents will be brought to brief you people.I want to say that what was employed in rescuing the girls is more of application of intelligence-led policing, using the platform of technology, partnering with members of the community and pressure on the kidnappers.

“What we have done with other security agencies is that we also went for members of their families, including the mothers, the fathers, their children and, with that pressure, they found out that there was no way again for them to continue keeping the girls and that was what led to the success we recorded in rescuing the girls.

“The Governor has just mentioned that the state has the capacity to pursue any criminal who dares at all to come and disturb the peace or to commit crime in Lagos. I can assure you that we are all secured.

“There are actually three suspects that we arrested. One was actively involved while the two others are conspirators who in one way or the other aided the kidnapping.

“With respect to the state of the girls, they are very well, they are stable and immediate medical attention to test them has been administered to them by the police medical team and I can as well tell you that as we picked them up, one of the questions we asked the girls was whether they were molested in any way and the three of them stated unequivocally that they were not molested in any way.”

“When you talk about ransom in cases like this, you are glorifying kidnapping. We should not be talking about ransom anymore in this country because if you do, you are telling others that kidnapping is viable and you can be going and kidnapping people to collect money”, the Police Command boss said.

On the culprits, the CP hinted that three of the suspects were arrested and being interrogated at the command’s headquarters in Ikeja Police Headquarters.