Three 4-year-olds kidnapped in Lagos

Three four-year-old children have been kidnapped in
Ago-Tapa community, Okokomaiko, Ojo Local
Government Area of Lagos State, throwing the entire
community into confusion.
The three—two males and one female—were identified
as Chibuzor Nwosu, Bayo Adeyemi and Barakat Saka.
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.
Sources said that the kidnappers' inability to gain
access to the school premises made them wait
outside until the pupils were leaving for their
respective homes.
At press time, the locations of the kidnappers have
not been known.
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.”
...Council officials confirms kidnap
Also in an interview with Vanguard, 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.
.....Two cases were reported
Responding, 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 “Chibuzor Nwosu ‘male’ aged 4-year-old
got missing on 24-6-2-16.two: Barakat Saka ‘female
aged 4yrs got missed on 28-6-2016.three: Bayo
Adeyemi ‘male’ aged 4-year-old, also got missed on
28-6-2016.”