Mastermind of girl’s kidnap in police custody

The Lagos State police command has arrested a middle-aged man, Oluwadare Akanmu, for masterminding the kidnapping of Sharon Omolayo.

Miss Omolayo’s abduction on December 13 from her school, Avi Cenna International, Ikeja, created quite a stir in the mass media.

The case, originally reported at the Area F police station, was later transferred to the Criminal Investigation Bureau (CIB) at Ikeja.

Mr Akanmu, a domestic staff in the home of the Omolayos at number 25, Kasum Street, Ikeja, allegedly masterminded Sharon’s kidnap with two other men, identified as Isikiru and Ibrahim, now at large, for ₦500,000.

A family panics

After eight gruesome days of worrying over the whereabouts and safety of little Sharon, her parents were shocked to discover that it was their trusted house help and family friend, Mr Akanmu, who was sent to pick her up from school that abducted the girl.

Mr Akanmu had been a friend of the family for more than five years and had been sent to pick Sharon from school on several occasions. He was well known to the staff in Sharon’s school who apparently did not suspect any foul play when he showed up to pick her on that fateful day.

Sharon’s father, Ebenezer Omolayo, while speaking on behalf of his family, said that his wife was supposed to pick Sharon up from school on that day but could not and had to send Mr Akamo instead. However, both of them never returned home that day.

Mr Omolayo recounted how he met Mr Akamo in Port Harcourt in 2004 at a new estate he moved into, where Mr Akamo worked as a welder.

“I was staying in an estate in Port Harcourt, a new estate,” he said. “He is one of the people that built the estate. I moved into the estate and I saw him as a good boy. Everybody liked him and he started working for me then and that is how I employed him without knowing his family members. He slept on the floor of the estate and if it was raining, he slept at my balcony.”

According to Mr Omolayo, the amount of trust his family had in Mr Akamo, coupled with the number of years they had spent together, did not allow him even to suspect the man’s culpability.

Unusual suspect

“I didn’t suspect Dare initially,” he said. “That night, we took ‘Okada’ to his house at Agege and looked for his friend to check if he was there. Until we got to the police station and the police were doing their investigation and all these things started coming out.”

Mr Omolayo added that it would be difficult to trust anyone with their child from now on and that the family is not thinking of employing anyone else for now.

“It is difficult now. There is a parent that called me and she says she has five kids and it is their housemaid that always take them to school. She has learnt from it and such a thing will never happen again.”

He commended the police for conducting a thorough investigation.

“They’ve done a fantastic job because without them, all these things wouldn’t have happened and we won’t have known where Sharon is and even if Dare brought Sharon back, we might have just still employed him and still continued. But the police did a good job.”

Still at large

Frank Mba, police spokesperson, said two other men who collaborated with Mr Akamo in the crime were still at large. While holding up a photograph of the suspects, he said, “These people were part of the conspiracy. The tallest guy is Lukman; he is still at large. The other one is Isikiru. He operated with the pseudo name, Ibrahim, throughout the negotiations. He was the one who was actually speaking with operatives all along.”

He advised parents and employers to conduct background check before recruiting domestic staff.

“Parents are advised to conduct background check before recruiting domestic staff and after employing them they should continue to monitor them and check if there is any change in their behaviour. The case is under investigation, the police are on the trail of the other suspects and they have been declared wanted. The suspect will be prosecuted,” Mr. Mba said.
Source:http://234next.com/