Distraught parents of children, who were abducted from the Turkish International College, Isheri, Ogun State, yesterday rallied to jointly raise N7.250 million for ransom.
This was disclosed yesterday by one of the parents. The parents, who were sick with worry, with many of them taking time off from their work, took matters into their hands after waiting for fruitful results from the Nigeria Police.
Since the abduction of the eight females from the school, including two Turkish nationals, the school had been shut down.
The closure of the school forced the parents to look for an alternative avenue at Ikeja, where they now often meet to discuss and rub minds on how to assist in the rescue of their children. The abductors had earlier demanded N100 million for each of the students, while demanding N300 million each for the Turkish nationals.
The kidnappers, during the week, brought down the ransom, but it was still an amount the parents couldn’t afford. According to a source: “The parents met yesterday at Ikeja.
They were able to gathered N7.250m. They got in touch with the kidnappers, but the men said the money was too small. They asked them to go and add more to the money, if they wanted their kids to be released.”
Earlier in the week, parents met to discuss raising part of the ransom, hopeful, that some money would pacify the abductors and make them to release their children. The meeting ended in a fiasco, with parents split in two factions.
While some argued that they should jointly raise N15 million, others said N50 million would soothe the kidnappers.
But yesterday, they met to look at what they had gathered. After taking count, the money was N7.250 million, but the kidnappers snubbed the offer.
Just like the classical Oliver Twist, the abductors asked for more money. It also gathered that following the arrest of the two militant kingpins, Philip Joel Kakadu (aka General Kakadu), 29, a native of Egbema Kingdom, Warri North Local Government Area and Romeo Council, 40, aka Raw, the Inspector- General of Police, Ibrahim Idris’s Special Intelligence Response Team (IRT) operatives, have divided into five teams.
According to sources, this move came as a result of confessions from Kakadu about the abduction of the eight females.
Kakadu had earlier told police that the abduction was, a ‘Joint Operation,’ among three different gangs of kidnappers.
He told police that he contributed five men and planned the abduction, but didn’t go with them. Police said since his arrest, he has been singing none stop.
Kakadu was arrested after four years on Police Wanted List for bank robbery, pipeline vandalism and kidnapping.
He was the unseen face, but known name in police circles, behind the popular Agbara, Festac, Lekki and Ikorodu bank robberies.
Kakadu and his men were known for blowing up banks’ doors and vaults with dynamites. It was, however, based on his confessions, that the IRT operatives have spread into states in South-South and South-West.
It was gathered that more than 16 suspects, had been arrested earlier, including women, but thorough investigations by the IRT operatives, whittled down the number.
Presently, five confirmed suspects, including a lady, are among the suspects in police custody. In another development, it was gathered that the Turkish School, has finally hired people to clear the bushes behind the school.
The move ought to have elicited shouts of joy from parents, but parents were rather disgusted and sneered.
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