Abductors Abandon 10-year-old Pupil in Bush
A 10-year-old pupil, Opeyemi Sotirin, has escaped from her abductors, after she was seized on Tuesday at her school in the Ibafo, Obafemi Owode Local Government Area of Ogun State.
PUNCH Metro learnt that the primary three pupil of Victory Edge Nursery and Primary School, was found loitering on the long bridge of the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway, after trekking kilometres from the bush where she was abandoned.
She was not injured by her captors.
She was said to have been picked up by a Quick Response Squad patrol team, led by one Inspector
Ola Yahaya, who then took her to the Warewa Police Post.
When asked what happened to her, the victim explained that she had closed from school and was waiting for her younger brother who was having an extramural when two men accosted her.
She claimed that the men forced her into a parked vehicle and threatened to kill her if she raised the alarm. She said:
A police officer at Warewa, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the victim could not recall her address but was able to tell the police the name of her school.
She said:
The Deputy Police Public Relations, Ogun State Command, Abimbola Oyeyemi, when contacted confirmed the story.
| Opeyemi |
She was not injured by her captors.
She was said to have been picked up by a Quick Response Squad patrol team, led by one Inspector
Ola Yahaya, who then took her to the Warewa Police Post.
When asked what happened to her, the victim explained that she had closed from school and was waiting for her younger brother who was having an extramural when two men accosted her.
She claimed that the men forced her into a parked vehicle and threatened to kill her if she raised the alarm. She said:
“After I closed from school at 2pm, I went to wait for my younger brother whose school is opposite mine. As I was waiting for him, two men came and then forced me into a black jeep. They threatened that if I shouted, they would kill me.
They drove me far into the bush and I did not know where they were taking me to. After driving very far, they stopped. They looked at each other and suddenly asked me to get down and lie face down.
Then they drove off. I did not know where I was, but when I saw footpath on the road, I decided to take it. I trekked till I got to the express.”A PUNCH worker, Mrs. Oge Njoku, said she was driving on the expressway around 6.30pm when she observed the 10-year-old stranded on the long bridge. She said:
“Immediately, I knew something was wrong because there was no way a girl of her age could be alone on that road by that time. I could not drive back because of the cars behind me, so I decided to turn at the Fatgbems junction.
As we were approaching the place where I sighted her, we discovered the QRS patrol van had taken her and we drove to meet them.
She said she was living in Abeokuta before she was brought to Ibafo, and she had only started schooling there when she was abducted and abandoned in the bush. She said she was trying to locate one of her sisters living in Mushin, Lagos, and she did not even know the way.”A member of the QRS team, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told PUNCH Metro that Sotirin was taken to the Warewa Police Post, so she could be identified and be reunited with her parents.
A police officer at Warewa, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the victim could not recall her address but was able to tell the police the name of her school.
She said:
“We took her to the school this morning (Wednesday) and she was identified as one of the pupils. The head teacher said her guardian had also reported a case of missing person at the Ibafo Police Division and that was confirmed.
We tried to know if she had suffered any form of assault from her guardian, but she said no. So, I believe her account. She couldn’t have run away from home on her own accord.”PUNCH Metro learnt that the victim’s guardian, Mrs. Opeyemi Tifase, later went to the station to take her.
The Deputy Police Public Relations, Ogun State Command, Abimbola Oyeyemi, when contacted confirmed the story.
“Yes, it happened. The police have reunited her with her guardian after taking necessary steps,” he said.