Abducted Babington schoolgirls, rescued

 The three kidnapped female students of Babing­ton Macaulay Junior Seminary (BMJS), Agunfoye-Lugbusi, Ikorodu,Lagos, have been rescued.
The Lagos State Governor, Akinwunmi Ambode and the Police Commissioner, Fatai Owoseni, who broke the cheering news on Sunday, said that no ransom was paid to secure the release of the girls.

Ambode, who read the Riot Act to persons involved in kidnapping in the state, warned that there would be no hiding place for them.
At a press conference at the State House, Ikeja, Lagos, Owoseni said that the female students were rescued through the use of modern technology.
He insisted that no ransom of any kind was paid to the kidnappers, who were paraded by the police.
Owoseni, who urged the public not to encourage kidnappers to demand ransom, said the practice would encourage others to perpetrate the evil act.

The police commissioner said that the three suspects, including one Emmanuel Arigidi, said to be the prime suspect, were arrested while the girls were rescued in stable condition.

He said: "The girls are stable, medical attention has been given to them and from what we gathered from the girls, they were not molested by the kidnappers."
The police chief explained that his men and other securi­ty agencies mounted pressure on the kidnappers, which led to the rescue of the children around Imota area of Ikorodu in the early hours of Sunday.

Governor Ambode announced that the three children were rescued early Sunday by security operatives of the Lagos State Police Command, the Department of State Security and members of the Armed Forces. He said that the team worked round the clock since the girls were kidnapped six days ago to secure their release.
He commended the military for doing a good job, saying that the girls had been reunited with their families and assured Lagosians of their security under his administration.
"I am reliably informed that one of the suspected kidnappers, Emmanuel Arigidi, was arrested during the operation to secure the release of the abducted children. Let me warn that the state government will not tolerate kidnapping or any form of crime in the state.
"Our position is clear and unambiguous: Lagos State has the capacity and the will to go after every form of crime and criminality in order to safe­guard life and property in the state," he said.

The three suspects were paraded before newsmen during the briefing, with the prime suspect, Arigidi, confessing thus:
"I know that security in Lagos State is now tight and I was telling others that there was no way we would get away with this kind of job, considering the level of security in the state. "When I told them that we should end the assignment, other members of the gang threatened to kill me and then I took canoe to run away."
One of the parents of the abducted girls said that the abductors had earlier in January made similar attempt but were repelled by the school's security, prompting the raising of the school's fence.


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