Wale Ajimotokan, Alex Enumah in Abuja and Sheriff Balogun in Abeokuta
Details have emerged on how some unknown gunmen stormed a Turkish School, Nigerian Tulip International Colleges (NTIC), in Isheri, Ogun State on Friday night and abducted three female students, three female supervisors, a female cook, and a female teacher (Turkish).
A statement issued by the school’s spokesman, Cemal Yigit, said the kidnappers breached the school’s well-fortified security through the back gate at about 9:30pm.
Yigit said the armed intruders gained entrance through the girls’ section and immediately held the eight people – all females – hostage.
“The school security noticed some movement on the CCTV camera at the girls’ section and promptly deployed security personnel and alerted the relevant security agencies in the area as customary.
“Upon hearing the security alarm activated and sighting our security personnel, the armed invaders opened fire on the security staff and managed to escape through a very dangerous route with the hostages,” he said.
He, however, said security officers were on the trail of the abductors.
“The security agencies are currently on their trail as the whole area has been cordoned off. We wish to assure parents and guardians that the students and teacher will return to safety as soon as everything possible has been deployed to ensure that our teachers and students return unhurt by God’s grace”, the school’s spokesperson assured.
An atmosphere of confusion prevailed at the elite school premises yesterday morning in the wake of the development as parents and guardians hurried to withdraw their wards from the school.
Our correspondent, who was on the spot, found most of the students in shock on account of the episode the previous night. A reliable source that recounted the experience said that the kidnappers that carried out the operation were about 15 in number. The incident happened after the students finished their hostel meeting.
THISDAY gathered that after breaking into the female dormitory upstairs, they immediately locked the door and pointed guns at the fear stricken students.
“It was a scary moment for all of us as we scampered and hid in supervisor’s room after the abductors left. Two of them came into our dormitory while the rest stayed downstairs. It was a very confusing scenario as we could barely sleep,” one of the students told THISDAY.
The Principal and the Security Adviser, Yunus Emre Dogan and Stephen Adewunmi, respectively said the gunmen came into the school and started shooting sporadically.
According to them, the abductors immediately made their way into the female hostel.
They explained that the abductors dug a big hole through the fence of the school from where they escaped through the bushy, swampy area.
Dogan explained this while playing host to the deputy governor of Ogun State, Mrs Yetunde Onanuga, who led other members of Ogun State Executive Council to the school for an on-the-spot assessment.
Police said the kidnappers were yet to establish contact or demand ransom. Ogun State Police Spokesman, Abimbola Oyeyemi, said a massive manhunt had been launched to rescue the victims and bring the kidnappers to justice.
He said the Federal Special Anti-robbery Squad (FSARS), Anti-kidnapping Unit and other police teams had been deployed to rescue the abducted persons.
Ogun State government has also assured parents and relatives of the victims that everything would be done to ensure their safe return.
Speaking during a visit to the school, the Deputy Governor, Mrs. Yetunde Onanuga, said the state government was on top of the situation to ensure the safe return of the kidnapped students.
She said, “we are here to express our concern and sympathy. It is unfortunate that this is happening barely few days of school resumption. When we heard about it, we quickly sprang into action, hence the urgent visit.
“Our government has put necessary security measures in place for the rescue of the abductees. Ogun State is already in action. Let me reassure you that we are going to rescue the victims soon.”
She appealed for calm urging the parents not to take panic action by removing their children from the school.
“No doubt, it does happen once a while but it’s unfortunate, the state is aware and we are doing the work, we will do all that is possible for the safe return of the children. The FG is aware and they have also assured us that very, very soon, they would be rescued.
“It’s not the time to start taking children out of the schools, the security operatives are all on ground to ensure safety of life and property of the school. We will do all that is possible to make sure the school is safe and the school authority is also doing what is possible to ensure that the state is safe.”
Meanwhile, parents are insisting that the school should be shut for two weeks within which the expected security measures would have been put in place.
The parents who were still thronging the premises of the school as at the time of filling this report said the remaining students were traumatised and would need some break before activities could pick up in the school again.
One of the parents whose child was kidnapped, Ahmad Ajani, said he got the news in the midnight and that his daughter was involved.
Ajani who described the incident as sad and unfortunate said his child, Hanatullah Aderinto Ajani, was in the school to study for the upcoming JAMB examination before the incident.
He said, “Somebody called in the midnight that something happened here and my daughter was involved, I had to come down this morning and the Police Commissioner addressed us assuring that they would work on it and that everything would be alright very soon.
“I am very sad but prayerful that they are rescued on time, as I am standing, I am traumatised.”
Another parent, Funmi Tijani, blamed the management of the school for not putting up enough security measures including lighting up the area.
She said, “We parents jointly resolved and agreed that we have to take away our children at least for the first one week, until we are convinced about perfect security arrangement in place.
“The road is not tarred, no security light, bushes all around. Last year, the school was closed down for two weeks because of flood. What we are saying is that ‘let there be adequate security.
“We are taking our children away, we’ve agreed amongst ourselves to take our children away for a week, my daughter saw them, witnessed the whole scenario and she’s traumatised. Psychologically, they are not balanced, you don’t expect me to leave her behind.”
Security operatives including the Assistant Commissioner of Police, AIG Zone II, Kayode Oluranti; Commissioner of Police, Ahmed Ilyasu; and the State Director of Department of State Security, Kabiru Sanni, were all on hand to assess the situation.
Nigerian Tulip international Colleges, financed by First Surat Group which brought her investments from Turkey, currently has a total number of 16 educational institutions located in Abuja, Kano, Lagos, Kaduna, Yobe and Ogun states with staff strength of over 1000 academic and non-academic personnel.
