We paid the ransom & the children were put in bags-Father of Kidnapped Orekoya kids

Emotions ran high on Wednesday at the Police
College Hospital, Ikeja, where the Orekoya children
were being treated after they were released by
their captors. Their father, Leke, said they were put
in bags by the kidnappers, who left them at the
Shasha area of Lagos.Contrary to the Lagos
state’s police commissioner’s statement that no
ransom was paid,their father revealed they paid a
ransom
They were said to have been released on Tuesday
night, and taken to the Police College Hospital,
Ikeja for treatment.
Punch correspondent, who visited the hospital,
observed as their father, Leke, cuddled 11-month-
old Aderomola.
He sang a lullaby as the child slowly shut his
eyes, drifting to sleep.He had a drip fastened to
his wrist.The other boys ─ Adedamola and Demola
─ whose drips had been disconnected, played
around the Female Ward of the police
hospital..Their mother, while trying to keep them
in check, asked if they wanted to go back to their
“new house”.The six-year-old, who quickly
recoiled, said,
“No, it’s a bad place. I don’t want to go back
there.”
When our correspondent asked for an account of
what transpired and how the kids were rescued,
their father said the family would address the
press formally on Thursday adding, “we want to
rest today.” He said,
“However, I give thanks to the Almighty God
for saving my kids and bringing us together
again. This is not by our power. This is a
result of the prayers of people for us. We saw
the effect of prayers at every point while we
were trying to secure the release of the
children. The children were put in bags. It is
not the work of the SSS, the military or police.
It was God and I am grateful to him.”
However, at the Orekoya’s residence on Lawani
Road, Itire, where relatives and family members
eagerly awaited their arrival, PUNCH Metro
gathered that money was paid to the kidnappers.
The father of the children’s mother, Senior Apostle
Abraham Adekunle, told our correspondent that the
kidnappers sent an account number to the family
to pay the ransom.
When asked for the amount paid, he said he could
not tell.
He said,
“For the eight days that the children were
taken away, we did not rest. But yesterday
(Tuesday), they called us and said we should
send the money to them. They sent their
account number to us. Immediately they
collected the money, they called us and said
they had dropped the children at Egbeda.”
Our correspondent gathered that children were
picked up at about 9pm.
Punch Metro learnt that the children had mosquito
bites on their bodies, which made their visit to the
police hospital inevitable. The children’s aunty,
Adesumbo Alabi, said the family was happy that
the children were returned hale and hearty.
She said the family was able to pay the ransom
through the contributions of members of the public
and relatives, who responded to the family’s
distress call.
“The incident still appears like a home video
to me. When I came here and saw the
situation on ground, I couldn’t hold back my
tears. Even while we were looking for the kids
on Sunday, we did thanksgiving after praying
for hours, believing that the children will be
back to us.
“We thank God the kidnappers asked for
money, because there are cases where
kidnappers don’t even ask for money, and the
next thing you hear is that their captives are
dead. But these ones asked for money, and
the children are back.
“Many people supported us with money. The
appeal we made through the Facebook,
television stations, radios, newspapers, were
not in vain. But I don’t think the kidnappers
were able to collect all the money they asked
for,” she said.
Alabi condemned OLX for not a$$isting the family
to secure the release of the children.
Our correspondent gathered that the police were
on the trail of the kidnappers.
A source said when Akinloye reported at the
residence of the Akinloye for work last week
Tuesday, the victims’ mother took her to the office.
It was learnt that while their mother showed her to
her co-workers as the new nanny she just
employed, the Closed Circuit Television cameras
got her image.
The source said,
“When Akinloye reported to work, she took her
to her office around 8am. She told her co-
workers, ‘see my new nanny’, and they were
all happy to see her. It was the following day,
which was Wednesday, that she left the nanny
at home with the children. The nanny then
said she wanted to buy biscuits for them and
she abducted them.”
The Lagos State Commissioner of Police, Kayode
Aderanti, said the police rescued the children.
He said, “When we got the hideout, we
cordoned off the area. The kidnappers got the
information that we were closing in on them,
and what they did was to quickly abandon the
children and flee. They are beautiful children
and we have returned them to their parents.”
The state police spokesperson, Kenneth Nwosu,
said the police were on the trail of the kidnappers,
adding that the victims were rescued around 9pm
in the Shasha area of Lagos.

SOURCE : PUNCH