The three girls- Timilehin Olusa, Tofunmi Popo and Deborah Akinayo – who were abducted last Monday in their school, Babington Macaulay Junior Seminary, Ikorodu, Lagos have regained their freedom after six harrowing days in the custody of kidnappers. The young girls were rescued on Sunday, 6th March 2016 in Imota, another town on the outskirt of Ikorodu, after intricate police moves that started with the arrest of one of the suspects, last Friday. According to the Anglican Diocese of Lagos, ‘We want to announce that they were not molested in any way’. Confirming the news of the girls, Lagos State Commissioner for Information and Culture, Steve Ayorinde, said no ransom was paid.
Speaking with Vanguard, one of the suspects, Arigidi said: “Lamiameni (another member of the gang) brought the deal, we discussed how to carry out the operation at Majidun. We were 12 people all together. We went to Maya Bridge to hire a canoe and around 8pm we entered the school and carried three girls. We later kept them somewhere. Afterward, there was a misunderstanding among us on how to keep the girls. I told them I did not like what we had done and we should release the girls in their schools because security had become tight and have been on our trail. Because I believe that sooner or later, they will get us. I didn’t want the police to be chasing us around. But my gang members threatened to kill me. Subsequently, I managed to board a boat and ran away from our den. Three days after, men of the Special Anti Robbery Squad, SARS, rounded me up at Majidun and I explained everything to them.”
