Police Arrest Lagos Evil Nanny, Fingers Granny, Others In Kidnap

Police in Lagos State on Thursday disclosed that a grandmother, her two sons and their wives were involved in the abduction of Mr. and Mrs. Leke Orekoya’s three children. The operatives of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad, Ikeja, Lagos State also said the same family of kidnappers was behind the abduction of two children at Magodo area of the state a couple of months ago. The suspects are the granny simply identified as Mrs. Kareem, Megida Akanni Kareem, Akeem Kareem, Ajoke Oseni (Akeem’s wife) and the dreaded maid, Fumilayo Adeyemi, popularly known as Mary Akinloye. Adeyemi, now in police custody, confessed she was also behind the abduction of two brothers, Michael and Rafael Esharegaran, from their home at Magodo, Isheri, Lagos State while also posing as a maid. The Esharegarans were said to have paid N10 million, though the police denied knowledge of the payment then. But Adeyemi, a mother of four, said her husband, also part of the syndicate, disclosed only N2.5 million ransom. Although other members of the gang are on the run, Adeyemi was arrested on Wednesday with her housemaid, Henrietta Odili, 16. Investigators said preliminary investigation showed that Odili was also a kidnap a victim. She applied to the family of kidnappers as a housemaid and when she got there, they seized her phone and refused her access to her father. Odili said: “I have not been able to speak with my parents for five months. They do not know whether I’m dead or alive.” The rescue of the kids and Adeyemi’s subsequent arrest came barely days after the SARS team, led by the Officer-in-Charge, SP Abba Kyari, took over the case. The state Commissioner of Police, Kayode Aderanti, said the police rescued the three kids on Tuesday at Shasha, Egbeda area of Lagos and the suspect, Adeyemi, was arrested on Wednesday by 9.20pm at Shasha, Lagos. Aderanti advised people who want to employ housemaids to visit the nearest police station. Adeyemi, disguised as a maid, got a job with the Orekoyas last week. Barely 24 hours after, she disappeared with their three kids – Aderomola (11 months old), Adedamola (4) and Ademola (6). The distraught parents later received a call, with the caller asking them to pay N15 million ransom if they ever wanted to see their kids alive again. Adeyemi was picked at Coker Estate, Shasha, Akowonjo, Lagos, but her husband, who was at the scene, escaped. It took detectives more than five hours before she started talking about how her family had been celebrating each time a ransom was paid. Detectives believe that the family had been in the kidnap business for long, but Adeyemi said she started just last December and had only taken part in the abduction of Michael and Rafael Esharegaran and the Orekoya kids. She said Ajoke Oseni brought the idea and sold it to her husband as well as Adeyemi’s husband. The police have also discovered that she used fake names on the OLX portal. A police source revealed how a trap was set for the kidnappers. He said: “Although the suspect and gang members were demanding N15 million, but I gathered that SARS detectives instructed the Orekoyas to pay a fraction of the ransom into the account of an unnamed bank. “The account was opened in Ibadan, Oyo State. Detectives discovered a link between the contact number on the account and that of the nanny. The gang withdrew N400,000 from the account via ATM.” According to the source, detectives set up surveillance on the account and calls on the mobile phones of members of the syndicate. Aderanti explained that sensing that the police were closing in on them, the gang split. Adeyemi and the gang evacuated their home in Coker Estate. She was, however, arrested along with her maid. Detectives have started trailing the fleeing members. Leke Orekoya said the police had instructed them not to divulge the amount paid. He said: “Due to ongoing investigation and in line with police directives, we shall not disclose the amount paid.” Orekoya added that the kidnappers requested that the money be paid into the account of an undisclosed bank, a ploy which the police asked him to comply with to track the kidnappers. However, the state Police Public Relations Officer, Kenneth Nwosu, denied knowing if any ransom was paid by the Orekoyas. Nwosu said: “We are making frantic effort to arrest other fleeing members of the gang. The police team acting on the directives of the Commissioner of Police, Kayode Aderanti, tracked the gang with bits of information made available to them. “We encouraged the Orekoyas to maintain communication with the kidnappers. With the information gathered, the team was able to follow the link to where the nanny was arrested. “We know that she did not carry out the crime in isolation. Others are involved. I promise you that in a short while, they would also be arrested.” But regretting her role, Adeyemi said she was forced to be a kidnapper. She said: “It was my husband and my brother-in-law who pushed me into this. They got the nanny job for me and taught me what to do. “The first day I resumed, I waited for the parents to go out. My madam is a banker, so I took the kids. I put the smallest one on my back and I took them straight to our house. When I got home, my husband and his brother welcomed me and praised me for my action. “They put a telephone call to the parents and demanded N18 million. I told them that amount was too much. The next day, they reduced it to N13 million. My mother-in-law, who lives with us, was not happy about the whole thing. I was really unhappy too when I realised that all the dailies have started carrying the news. Whatever happens to me today, I deserve it because my action was wicked.”