Mrs. Adebisi Orekoya, had over the weekend, revealed that the family parted with N2.5 million as against the initial N15 million demanded by the kidnappers as ransom.
Speaking to a group of working mothers in Lagos at the Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) Conference and Exhibition Centre, Alausa, Orekoya had taken time to recount their ordeal before they were reunited with their kids.
She made this disclosure at a national awareness and sensitisation seminar against child kidnapping in Nigeria.
Organised by Background Check International (BCI), a background screening firm in Nigeria, the seminar was tagged ‘Averting the rising spate of child kidnapping in Nigeria’.
She said: “When they demanded N15million, I told them that we could not afford it and they later reduced it to N13million but we still told them we could not afford it.
“They then gave me an option of paying ransom for only one kid. They asked me to choose the one I love the most and pay the ransom for his release.
“But how could I choose one and leave any behind? I did not give birth to the three of them in one day. The police told me to keep begging them so that they can be online and enhance the tracing.
“With their calls, the police were able to trace them to Sasha but couldn’t narrow it down to their particular location.
“When they finally agreed to what we had, they sent a GTbank account number to us and we paid in N2.5million as instructed.
“We then sent him a text message that we had paid in the money. He said he would confirm first to know if we flagged the account and then get back to us.
“He later called back by 3p.m. and said he has confirmed payment. He told us to go to Ogijo and pick our kids but when we got there, he said he was already in Sagamu.
“We had someone track his location and it showed he had gone to Oshodi and then back to Egbeda. I and my husband went back home.
“We were at Anthony, when someone called that they saw our kids naked in front of an uncompleted building. We asked them to snap them and send their pictures to my Whatsapp (a social media).
“When they sent the picture, it was my kids and we called the police to go pick them up. And they did and that was how we were reunited with our kids.”
Meanwhile, the CEO of BCI, Mr. Kola Olugbodi, urged Nigerians to always do a background check on whomever they are employing.
He said: “These people (kidnappers) play on people’s intelligence. They know when you are under pressure and they strike.
“Working mothers should know that such pressure makes them prone to attacks. Don’t be too quick to bring strangers to your home.”
On the other hand, the Lagos State Police Command, has finally unveiled the face of two of the remaining gang members who are still at large- Mr. Waheed and Akeem Kareem.
The message sent by the state Police Public Relations Officer, DSP Kenneth Nwosu, read: “Above is Waheed, the husband of the evil nanny and the mastermind of the plot to kidnap the Orekoya kids who we rescued last month.
“Efforts are still on to arrest him and Akeem his brother. We will appreciate and indeed reward any credible information that will facilitate their arrest.
“Together, we can keep Lagos and indeed our neighborhoods safe and crime free. They are both suspects and are equally wanted by the police.”
However, nothing was said of Joke Oni, the wife of Akeem, who is reportedly the chief strategist of the group.
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