9 month after girl’s abduction, police say no money to fund rescue
It has been nine months since suspected gun men kidnapped a 15- year -old school girl, Precious Okoro. But as days has run into weeks and months, hopes that Okoro will regain her freedom soon appears farfetched as efforts to track her abductors are hampered by paucity of funds, according to police.Saturday Mirror exclusively learnt that policemen at the State Criminal Investigations Department at Panti Yaba have abandoned the investigations to rescue Okoro who was kidnapped on May 25th 2014 at the Songotedo area in Lagos State on her way to the Ikenne Communty College, Ikenne, Ogun State. It was learnt that gun men intercepted the bus conveying Precious to school and whisked her away to and after three months, the abductors contacted her father demanding for a ransom.
Though the policemen attached to the SCID Panti have arrested four persons in connection with the kidnap, it was gathered that the policemen move to rescue the girl is being stalled because the, identified as Mr Nwaigwe Okoro, is said to have ran out of cash to sponsor the police investigation. Police sources said the suspected kidnappers after abducting Precious, took her to a hideout in Niamey, Niger Republic, where she and other girls are being held hostages.
The police source added that the kidnappers demanded $100, 000 ransom and they have contacted the parents to provide the money, failure upon which the girl will be made a sex slave . Sources added that Precious became a target for kidnappers after her father, a bush meat seller at the Ajah area of Lagos went to his wife’s village to sponsor two burial ceremonies.
It was learnt that policemen are working on the theory that some relatives of the kidnapped girls allegedly masterminded the kidnap as they might have felt that her father is wealthy after they saw the manner he spent money during the burials. It was learnt that Precious told her mother that one Kelvin from her mother’s village is the brain behind her kidnap.
A police source said “The kidnappers allowed Precious to speak with her mother on the phone. Precious spoke a different dialect and told her mother that one Kelvin is behind her kidnap. She said the kidnappers also have other girls in their custody.
Precious’ mother later spoke with one of the kidnapers and she told them to send Kelvin’s mobile telephone number which the abductor did so that she can speak with him directly. Precious’s mother, however, discovered that the number the kidnapper sent is the same number that one of her cousins, Kelvin is using.
The police has been on the manhunt for Kelvin but there has not been any success because tracking his number involves spending money which the family don’t have and there is no financial help coming from anywhere.
Police sources who requested anonymity said, “This girl’s case has received a lot of attention from human rights groups who have visited the police to push for her rescue, but all efforts have been in vein because what is required to rescue the girl is money.
The father of the girl is a bushmeat seller but he went to the village in the Eastern part of the country on two occassions to sponsor burial ceremonies for his wife. “From police investigations, the relatives were praising him for spending a lot of money during the burials so they felt he has money and one of them masterminded the girl’s kidnap.
But from what they have learnt, the man is not as rich as they thought but they said he is lying and they are demanding for that huge ransom. The man is very broke and cannot sponsor the investigation.
“The police team are supposed to go to Niamey for investigation but there is no money and the father of the girl said he is very broke. All the NG0s coming here promised to raise fund for the investigation but they have not shown up, so money is hindering police work”.
The police source added that it is sad that Precious and other girls are still being held in custody of the Niger Republic based kidnapping gang and their continuous stay in the kidnapper’s den will endanger their lives. “From our investigation, Precious informed her mother when the kidnappers allowed her to speak on the phone that she is being held in captivity with other girls.
This is a case that the Federal, state and human rights groups should be interested in considering the similarity with the Chibok girls kidnap. Money to investigate is a major hindrance to the rescue efforts of these girls at the moment,” the source said. In his statement to the police, Mr. Okoro narrated how the kidnap ordeal started.
He said “August last year after three months my daughter was kidnapped, I received an international call from some persons who claimed they kidnapped my daughter and she is in Niger Republic. They demanded $100,000 ransom money but I told them I don’t have. They told me if I want my daughter back alive, I should cooperate with them.
They later reduced the money to $30,000 and they sent an Ecobank account number .They used 15 different international numbers to contact me but I told them I don’t have money.
“They also sent a Diamond Bank account number. The police used the bank to arrest some of them. I don’t have any money to give them. I don’t have money for the investigation and this is stalling the rescue of my daughter,” the father lamented.
No comments:
Post a Comment