How 3 Abducted Kids Were Rescued In Lagos

It was a big relief on Wednesday, not only for the Orekoyas but to many Nigerians, when news broke that the three kids – all boys – belonging to Mr. and Mrs. Leke Orekoya, who were kidnapped over a week ago, had been found. It was eight days of gruelling agony for all.
The father of the kids, Leke Orekoya, revealed on Wednesday that the kidnappers had put the children, including the 11-month-old baby in a bag, while in captivity.
The three children, 11-month-old Aderomola, four-year-old Adedamola, and six-year-old Demola, were abducted by their nanny, one 23-year-old Mary Akinloye from their home. But thankfully, they were rescued on Wednesday.
Owing to the pressure of work, the couple had sought to employ a nanny via OLX, an online sales and marketing portal. Akinloye had applied and was hired.
But exactly one day after she was employed and before the documentation process was concluded, Akinloye took the children out on the pretext that she wanted to buy biscuits for them, and then vanished into thin air.
After their abduction, the kidnappers contacted the family and demanded a ransom of N15 million but later reduced it to N13 million.
Although it is yet unclear how much the family finally paid as ransom, it was gathered that the kidnappers on Tuesday night contacted the parents of the kids.
The kidnappers were believed to have made contact after the ransom was wired to an undisclosed account given to the family.
It was gathered that the kidnappers had called the family and asked them to pick up their kids at an uncompleted building at the Egbeda area of Lagos.
When the police escorted the parents to the site of the drop-off, they found all three kids naked but alive, although they had mosquito bites all over their bodies.
The kids and the parents were then whisked off to the hospital for medical checks.
On a visit to the Cottage Hospital/ Comprehensive Health Centre, Police College, the father was seen with his wife and three children.
While the youngest of the kidnapped kids was sleeping on one of the beds, two others were occupied with computer games, completely oblivious to the trauma that their abduction had put their parents through and indeed many Nigerians.
Singing ‘Row, row, row your boat’ a popular children’s rhyme while rocking the toddler, who had an intravenous drip on his foot, Orekoya said prayers by all and sundry had saved his kids.
Although he declined to give details of what was paid to recover his children, he said the family was trying to pull themselves together after what they went through.
His wife, Adebisi, had posted on her Facebook page that her children had been found, without giving details of how the feat was achieved.
Promising that they would address the press today at their Lawanson residence, Orekoya however lost his composure when he said the kidnappers had put his kids in a bag.
“Despite the connections, the search and other things that went on after our children went missing, I know that it was prayers that brought them out alive.
“I want to thank everyone that responded to our needs and stood by us, but we would like to have today to ourselves,” he said.
He also said since the tests run on the children did not reveal anything untoward, they were expected to be discharged yesterday.
While the interview was going on, two of the boys were heard discussing the new home (the kidnappers den) they were taken to.
Watching their every move like a hawk, their mother asked the children whether they liked the new home, to which they chorused a loud “No!”
Reacting to the eventual release of the kids, the state Commissioner of Police, Mr. Kayode Aderanti, said investigations would continue until the kidnappers are behind bars.
He said the kidnappers decided to release the children when they discovered that the police dragnet was closing in on them
He said: “When we heard the news we swung into action immediately and along the way, we started tracking the phone number of these kidnappers because they got in touch with the mother of the children.
“As at the day they were rescued, we had narrowed down the search to Sasha area. The heat was on because we decided to adopt the best technology available in the land to get these kidnappers. They knew we were already on their trail and when the heat was just too much for them, they had to abandon the kids and we went to rescue them.”
He denied that any ransom was paid.
“No ransom was paid and we don’t encourage such. But the elite, not only in Lagos but all over the federation should know that whenever they are trying to employ a housemaid or driver or any personal staff who would have access to their homes, they must ensure that they reach out to the police so we can do background checks thoroughly.
“What we find most disturbing is that they employ people they don’t know without checking their backgrounds. Over the period of three months, we have had such cases and one led to the loss of life and background checks were not made.
“In this case, the maid was hired through the internet; someone they didn’t know or where she came from, employed her and within 24 hours entrusted her with three little kids.”