Ikorodu down: Chibok left to go

The liberation by the police early yesterday of the three young girls seized by kidnappers from the Banington Macaulay Junior Seminary, Ikorodu, Lagos came to all Nigerians as very welcome relief after a string of bad news on the national economic and social fronts. The police announced yesterday that they had set free the three […]

The liberation by the police early yesterday of the three young girls seized by kidnappers from the Banington Macaulay Junior Seminary, Ikorodu, Lagos came to all Nigerians as very welcome relief after a string of bad news on the national economic and social fronts. The police announced yesterday that they had set free the three school girls who were kidnapped last Monday and that Olusa Oluwatimilehin, Popo-Olaniyan Tofunmi and Akinayo Deborah were recuperating at an undisclosed hospital in Lagos.
A police source said, “They were found at Igbo-Okuta, a suburb of Ikorodu area of Lagos by detectives who had been on the trail of their abductors since the incident took place.” The source said. Lagos State Police Command’s spokesperson Dolapo Badmos said, “You know that the girls would have gone through a lot of trauma. However, the girls are hale and hearty. We want to keep them away from public glare for now. We shall make our findings known to the press later.” She also said the parents, the authorities of the school from where the girls were abducted as well as the police were all happy with the rescue. Indeed, all Nigerians were happy with the rescue and we warmly congratulate the police and all others who played a role in securing the girls’ freedom.
Police sources also said no ransom was paid to secure the girls’ release. We hope this is true because on several occasions in the past, what was touted as “rescue” of kidnap victims turned out to be a case of family members paying ransom to the kidnappers. The kidnappers had initially demanded N200 million as ransom but gradually scaled it down to a tenth of that. Obviously while the negotiation was on over the ransom, the police stepped up their rescue efforts.
The sad affair began last Monday when the armed robbers cum kidnappers invaded the junior seminary school at about 8pm, engaged security men and the other students in a fight before they retreated through a breached school fence, taking three senior female students with them. The affair caused shock and consternation all over the country because it was an entirely new, despicable dimension to kidnap for ransom in Nigeria. Whereas previous kidnap episodes mostly occurred in homes or on the highways, this was the first time since the Chibok girls’ affair that criminals will attack a school compound and snatch students. While the Ikorodu gangsters demanded for ransom, those who kidnapped the Chibok girls had even worse motives and have held them for nearly two years now. 
Condemnations of the Ikorodu kidnaps came in thick and fast. Lagos State Government, parents, non-governmental organisations and individuals across the length and breadth of Nigeria all condemned the kidnapping. The House of Representatives sent a 10 man delegation to Lagos to study the matter. Speaker of Lagos State House of Assembly Mudashiru Obasa condemned the inadequacies of security agencies, saying there was need for the creation of state police.
Lagos State chapter of All Progressives Congress [APC] also condemned the kidnap and called for the students’ immediate release, describing the kidnap as callous and inhuman. Women Advocates Research and Documentation Centre [WARDC] also said insecurity is one of the reasons why Nigeria has the highest number of out-of-school children globally.
While Nigeria’s security forces are indeed harassed and they have their hands full coping with the ever changing methods of criminals across the country, the Ikorodu episode has opened their eyes to criminals’ latest callous antics. School authorities all over the country must increase their vigilance and security awareness around all school compounds and maintain a look out for criminals seeking to harm our children. We congratulate the police, parents and all Nigerians on the happy ending of the Ikorodu girls’ episode and we urge the military to borrow a leaf from the police and stage a similar rescue of the Chibok girls who have been away from their parents for 693 days today.