How I Escaped from the Kidnappers - Lagos School Girl Speaks as Gunmen Demands Ransom

The entrance gate of Babington Macaulay Junior Seminary School

The kidnappers of the three school girls from Babington Macaulay Junior Seminary (BMJS), have demanded some millions as ransom as they contacted one of the girls' father on behalf of the three of them.

A female Senior Secondary School student of the Babington Macaulay Junior Seminary (BMJS) in Ikorodu, has narrated how she escaped being caught by the kidnappers who stormed their school and abducted three female students on Monday, February 29, at about 9:30pm from their classroom during prep.

The victims has been identified as Timilehin Olisa, daughter of Lagos State’s Anglican School Management Board, Tofunmi Popoolaniyan and Deborah Akinayo.

While explaining her ordeal to her guardian who visited from Enugu State yesterday, the science student spoke in tears:

"We were reading for our test billed for Tuesday morning , that night when we heard the first gun shot. We ignored it, thinking it was fire crackers. Then, another shot followed. At that point, we were scared.

"One of us jokingly said, 'those people that attempted to strike the other day have come o.' Hearing that, I froze and started praying. Before we could think of the next thing to do, three SSS1 students ran into our class room, screaming: Robbers! We all ran out in our confused states , only to bump into four armed men.

"We ran back towards the window, where we struggled to jump out from. At that point, one of the gunmen held my cloth from behind. In my attempt to free myself from his grips, a student fell down. He (gunman) left me and held the student that fell by the leg, while I ran with all my strength until I got to the hostel."

Meanwhile, there were indications yesterday that the kidnappers who stormed the Seminary School in Ikorodu, on Monday night and abducted the three SS2 female students, have reduced the ransom to N20 million per student.

It was reported that as at midnight on Tuesday, the kidnappers who initially demanded for N100 million for each student, succumbed to passionate pleas by their contact in the school, and reduced their demands to N20 million. Besides, the kidnappers have been discovered to be militants turned vandals.

Meanwhile academic activities were still on hold at the private missionary secondary school yesterday, as students were ordered to remain in their hostels, with strict instruction not to speak to anyone about the ugly incident.

Click here to read how the school principal narrated how the gunmen stormed the school and abducted the students as the Lagos state deputy governor and other government officials visits the school.