Rescued seminary girls ‘not molested in any way’

Fears that the three teenage girls abducted from Babington Macaulay Junior Seminary School, Lagos, might have been molested by their kidnappers are unfounded — according to the girls themselves.

Fatai Owoseni, the Lagos commissioner of police, told the media on Sunday that the girls “unequivocally” said that they were not molested “in any way”.

“The girls are very well and they are stable,” he said.

“I can confirm that immediate medical attention just to test them up has been given to them by the police medical team and I can as well tell you that as we picked them up, one of the questions we asked the girls was whether they were molested in any way and the three of them stated unequivocally that they were not molested in any way.”

They were abducted from their hostel on the night of February 29 and rescued early Sunday morning by the security forces.

Owoseni confirmed the arrest of three suspects in the operation that led to the rescue.

No ransom

He said one of the suspects, named as Emmanuel Arigidi, was actively involved, while two others – Seun Akanji and one Henry — were “conspirators who aided the kidnapping one way or the other”.

The police chief said no ransom was paid, maintaining that police deployed intelligence-led policing using the platform of technology and partnering with members of the community to put pressures on the kidnappers to secure the release of the girls.

He said: “When you talk about ransom in cases like this, you are glorifying kidnapping. We should not be talking about ransom anymore in this country because if you do, you are telling others that kidnapping is viable and you can be going and kidnapping people to collect money.

“But I want to also say that what was employed in rescuing the girls is more of application of intelligence-led policing using the platform of technology, partnering with members of the community and pressures on the kidnappers.

“What we have done with other security agencies is that we also went for members of their families including their mothers, their fathers, their children and with that pressure they found out that there was no way again for them to keep on keeping the girls and that was what led to the success we recorded in rescuing the girls.”

Capacity to fight

Akinwunmi Ambode, the state governor, said that his administration has “the will and capacity to fight” all forms of crime and criminality.

There will be no hiding place for kidnappers, he warned.

“Let me warn that the state  government will not tolerate kidnapping or any forms of crime in the state. Our position is clear and unambiguous, Lagos state has the capacity and the will to go after every form of crime and criminality in order to safeguard lives and property in the state,” he said at the media briefing.

“The Lagos state police command, the Department of State Security and members of the armed forces worked tirelessly round the clock in the last six days to secure the release of the children. I thank them for a good job.

“The three girls have been safely re-united with their families and the government wishes to assure Lagosians that their security is top priority and it will not relent in ensuring that Lagos remains safe and secure.”