Update on the Nigerian-Turkish School Kidnap

One of the kidnapped students of the Nigerian Turkish International College, NTIC, Ogun State released on Tuesday evening,(names withheld) yesterday gave an account of how she was kidnapped, adding that they were not maltreated while in their captors den.

According to her, “They fed us with rice, noodles and sometimes tea. They did not maltreat us. At a point, I lost count of how many days we have stayed in the hide out.’’

Visible signs of exhaustion were to be seen on the faces of the freed students even as they were accompanied by some security agents, management staff of the school and their parents to the waiting embrace of governor Ibikunle Amosun, in his Oke-Mosan office,  Abeokuta, a day after they were freed.

Speaking on how they were abducted, one of the students said; “I was in my room when I heard a disturbing sound at the veranda. I was tempted to go and see what was happening but was restrained by instinct.

”My room mate, who went, screamed and I knew there was trouble. She rushed back into the room with a man following her. From where I hid, I saw the stranger holding her by the wrist with a stern warning for her not to cause any trouble. She started shouting my name, telling me to go and hide."

"From where I hid, I was shouting Mummy! Mummy!. I believe the stranger heard my voice, as he came close, found me and quietly asked me to come out. I begged him not to harm me and he promised he wouldn’t. 

"They led us out of the school compound, through the bush path, where I saw some other persons. I did not know who they were because the place was dark. It was later I discovered they were my teachers and school mates. ”I can not tell the exact time we spent getting to their destination but it took over two hours. At a point, I slept off, thinking I was dead. By the time I woke up, it was still dark.”

”Yesterday (Tuesday), one of them came and said they should take us away. Again, I fell asleep only to wake up on reaching where they dropped us.”

Governor Ibikunle Amosun in his office revealed what he faced during the waiting period, saying that he could not rest until the victims were released. While receiving the freed victims, Amosun noted that their release which coincided with his 59th birthday made his day.

Explaining what he went through while the victims were still in the kidnappers den, Amosun said; “When the incident happened I was not in the state, I travelled. But the Deputy Governor and the Secretary to the State Government visited the school .

“When the President called me, I assured him that they would be released on Monday. But when they were not released on Monday, he called again on Tuesday and asked what was happening and I told him that we were close to securing their release, as I was informed that the victims would be released in 24 hours.

“I was there during one of the sessions when the security operatives were discussing with the kidnappers through a tracking device. I just refrained from talking to them .

”They (operatives) had tracked them (kidnappers) to their hideout where they kept the students and workers but the security operatives did not want to storm the place because of the safety of the victims.

“I want to assure the kidnappers that they will pay dearly for this because this is Ogun State, where we don’t allow criminals to operate. Ogun State will not be a comfort zone for them to operate. Anybody who wants to do business with a good intention is welcome but we will not indulge anyone who intends to give us a bad name.’’

Speaking on how the victims were released, Commissioner of Police, Ogun State Police Command, Mr Ahmed Illyasu, stated that a cutting edge technology and high profile mechanism were involved in the rescue of the victims. He said “the deployment of a technically-driven team of intelligence response system of the Inspector General of Police yesterday, forced the miscreants to submit , thereby leading to the rescue of the victims. Also, some high profile suspects were arrested. The operation is on a large scale and it is still ongoing. Definitely, this is not the end of the operation.

On the part of the parents of the released victims, Speaking on behalf of the concerned parents, Deputy Managing Director of The Sun Newspaper, Mr Steve Nwosu, expressed gratitude to security agents who put in efforts in the release of the students and staff. He said: “Yes, even if anybody has any misgivings, the important thing is the result and we are very happy. The governor, we must thank you for everything you did, we got to know indirectly, we knew what was happening. As a media person, I understand one or two things that was happening. “ On behalf of the parents and the children, we want to say a big thank you to everybody that participated in bringing back these children and we say may none of you experience what we experienced.”