Kidnappers of Ikorodu schoolgirls demand N200m

Tofunmi, one of the girls abducted

The kidnappers of the three schoolgirls from Babington Macaulay Junior Seminary (BMJS) have made contacts and demanded N200 million ransom.

The kidnappers, twice contacted the distraught father of one of the girls, Timilehin Olusa on Tuesday, demanding N200 million for the three girls.

They were said to have gotten the telephone number of Venerable Victor Ayo Olusa from his daughter. Olusa is the executive secretary of
Lagos Anglican School Management Board.

Timilehin Olusa, Tofunmi Popoolaniyan and Deborah Akinayo, all SS2 students, were abducted by gunmen from their classroom at about 9:30pm on Monday during prep.

The school where the kidnapping took place

Meanwhile, increased presence of security personnel was noticeable in Agunfoye-Lugbusi Village near Ikorodu, Lagos State, on Wednesday, the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports.

A NAN correspondent who visited the school on Wednesday reports that plain-clothed security men have flooded the area while a contingent of the navy has also infiltrated the surrounding creeks in the manhunt for the abductors.

“The area is on 24-hour surveillance and we won’t rest until the students are returned to their parents.

“We have also made contacts with other security agencies,” Mr Bala Hassan, an Assistant Inspector General of Police (AIG) in charge of Zone 2, told NAN in Lagos.

Venerable Olaoluwa Adeyemi explains the kidnapping to deputy governor Adebule

The AIG, who is in charge of Lagos and Ogun States, said that security agents in the neighbouring states had also been contacted to secure all routes.

He assured that the police was closing in on the criminals.

“The CP has given the school authorities advice on how to beef up security around here. So far, we have gotten good information on the criminals and I can tell you that everything is on course.

“The deployments already made will not be changed and Ogun Police Command has also been alerted to properly secure all entries and exits.

“We are assuring the parents and school authorities that the girls will soon be back, that is all I can say for now,” he said.

Security agents from the police, Nigerian Army and the Nigerian Navy have been deployed in the area while armed patrol teams were sighted at bus stops leading to the school.

Rapid Response Squad (RRS) helicopters were also sighted carrying out surveillance air patrol of the creeks.