16-year-old pupil rescued, kidnapper killed

Afolabi Adeniji

Lagos State Police Command has rescued Olufolabi Adeniji, the 16-year-old pupil of American International School, who was kidnapped on April 16, 2013.

According to police authorities, the victim was found in a bush in Ilaro area of Ogun State on Friday.

PUNCH Metro had reported on April 18 that the victim was being driven to school by his parents’ driver, John Adebayo, when he was kidnapped.

It was also reported that the parent’s vehicle was later found at the Palms Shopping Mall, Lekki, while the driver and the boy’s whereabouts were unknown.

But police investigations had revealed that Adebayo masterminded the kidnap.

It was learnt that the kidnappers contacted the victim’s parents and demanded N60m as ransom.

The police were said to have traced the suspects to Ilaro where they combed for two days.

It was learnt that the family were able to convince the kidnappers to accept N5m and in the process of collecting the ransom, they were arrested.

The Police Public Relations Officer, Ngozi Braide, said the operation was carried out by policemen attached to Ikoyi Division.

She said, “The driver was the one that opened the door of the vehicle and allowed the other kidnappers to enter the vehicle. The kidnappers pointed a gun at the victim’s head and took him to a bush in Ilaro.

“After the matter was reported at Ikoyi Division, the Divisional Police Officer, Aisha Haruna, began investigations to the matter and convinced the parents of the victim not to pay ransom.

“Policemen in plain clothes got to Ilaro and after two days, they found the location of the kidnappers.

“Around 4am on Friday, policemen spotted the suspects in the bush. On seeing the policemen, one of the suspects stabbed a policeman twice in the head.

“The suspect was shot and killed immediately while the three other suspects were arrested.

“The suspects revealed the location of the boy and he was rescued in good health.”

Our correspondent learnt that the slain suspect was the sibling of the driver.

Braide seized the opportunity to warn members of the public never to pay ransom in the event that any of their loved was kidnapped.

“It is because families of victims hurriedly pay ransom that is why kidnappers are having a field day. People should have faith in the police to do our jobs and kidnapping will become a thing of the past,” she said.