Olusegun Ariyo
The Ogun State Police Command has confirmed the kidnap of a 7-year-old girl, Mercy Akande in Sango, Ado Odo Ota LGA of the state.
The Command’s spokesperson, Omolola Odutola, disclosed this in a statement in Abeokuta on Friday.
Urban Express News Online reports that the girl’s mother, a POS operator, reported that her customer, a yet-to-be-identified male adult, was responsible for the kidnap.
According to the mother, the regular customer visited the shop, bought food for the seven-year-old girl, and later sent her on an errand to buy a sachet of water.
In an attempt to retrieve the sachet of water, the customer met the child midway and before the mother, who was attending to other customers, could look in the direction of her daughter to see what was going on, she could not find the man or her daughter.
The girl has been missing since Monday, December 23, according to Odutola, who also stated that the kidnappers have started negotiating a ransom.
Odutola noted that the Divisional Police Officer (DPO), Sango Division, had reached out to the victim’s family, saying they had provided valuable information.
The police spokesperson added that efforts to locate the kidnappers and rescue the victim unhurt had commenced.
To ensure the abducted girl’s safe return, she asked the public to help the police by posting her photos to help the authorities find and apprehend the kidnapper.
Odutola, however, urged the public to disregard a misleading report regarding an alleged demand of N40,000 from a complainant by police officers in the Sango Division to report a suspected kidnapping case.
“Contrary to the allegations, there was no demand for N40,000. The public is urged to disregard this misinformation.
“However, the police officer who received the complaint from the counter acted unprofessionally, as the matter was not escalated to the DPO, which is necessary for appropriate attention.
“Internal disciplinary measures have been meted against the erring police officer for failure to notify the DPO of the magnitude of the report,” she said.
