Female Kidnappers Apprehended in Lagos
Alleged plan by a female kidnap syndicate known to be operating in Lagos state to abduct some students on their way to school last Friday, in Aguda area of Surulere, Lagos, was botched, following the the arrest of three of its members by the police. Commuters at the orile area of Lagos had earlier detained the kidnappers prior to the arrest of the two women by the police. The women would have been set ablaze of not for the timely intervention of the police. The female kidnappers were said to have succeeded in cajoling six students who were heading to a public school on the Island and zoomed off towards Orile/Mile Two of the state.
There are, however, different accounts as to how these women met their waterloo as a version of the kidnapping account had it that the eldest of the abducted students, who is a Junior Secondary School 2 girl, raised an alarm when she noticed that the route plied by the women was different from the regular route that leads to their school. The alarm raised by the girl was reported to have attracted curious commuters at Orile who chased after the vehicle. There was another version that said the students were kept inside the boot of the vehicle by their kidnappers.
However, when the vehicle reached Orile, commercial motorcyclists in the area were said to have been attracted by rather loud and strange bangs from the boot of the car and out of curiosity, they decided to stop the car and demanded that the boot be opened for them to ascertain what must have been responsible for the bang coming from inside.
When it was noticed that the students were abducted, a mob descended on the three women and attempted to set them ablaze but for the timely intervention of policemen from Orile division, who rescued the women from their hands. The mob, however, succeeded in setting the vehicle used for the kidnapping ablaze.
One of the eyewitnesses at the scene said: “ One of the students said when they noticed this was not the way to their school, they told their abductors to take them back from where they picked them but they didn’t respond. She said she started crying and shouting at the same time. When they got to salvage bus stop at Orile, their cry attracted some area boys who approached the abductors and asked them where they were going.”
‘’Immediately, he said that, the students cried for help, saying the people were kidnappers. Sensing trouble, the kidnappers immediately sped off . But unfortunately for them , they drove into a port hole which caused one of the tyres to burst. Yet they kept moving until they were caught up with at Abu street . The ladies were stripped naked, while their vehicle was destroyed . They would have been set ablaze but for Police intervention.”
Efforts to speak with the suspects and the rescued students at the Orile Police division failed as newsmen were asked to go to the spokesman, Lagos State Police Public Relations Officer, Mr Joe Offor, for comment on the issue.