A 26-year-old suspected Internet fraudster, Jide Ajayi, has been arrested by operatives of the Lagos State Police Command for allegedly abducting a 14-year-old pupil, identified only as Miracle.
The suspect met the victim on a social media platform, Facebook, from where they exchanged telephone numbers.
The suspect was alleged to have gone to Miracle’s parent’s house on Thursday, August 23, from where he took away the Senior Secondary School one pupil.
After five days together, operatives of the Inspector-General of Police Intelligence Response Team were reported to have swooped on him at his hideout on Gbeleyi Street, Idimu.
The victim told our correspondent that she could not explain how she got to the area, alleging that Ajayi cast a spell on her.
She also claimed that throughout the five days that she was with him, he did not sexually molest her.
She said, “We became friends on Facebook last year. He was always disturbing me. At a point, I decided to block him because he asked me out. However, on July 17, 2018, after a party in my school, he started chatting with me again. During one of our chats, he asked if I was a virgin and I answered yes.
“I don’t know how he got to my street that night. He called and said he was on our street. I told him that I just returned from a journey and I could not go outside. He said there was no problem and he would leave.
“I went to buy something outside when I saw him. He initially pleaded with me to follow him, but I refused. He then touched me on the shoulders. I lost my senses and obeyed him.
“He took me to his friend’s place in the Pipeline area of Idimu. He held a meeting with the friend called Michael. There was a second friend, Gbenga, with them that night. He told them that I would pass the night with them.
“The room was dark. I was there for about five days. During the period, he locked me in and only brought food to me. I told him that I wanted to go home, but he said I could not find my way home without him.”
The teenager said by Sunday, Michael asked Ajayi to take her away from the house because his girlfriend would be visiting.
The 26-year-old was alleged to have insisted on her staying, as he reportedly made plans to relocate her to another friend’s house.
“When his friend was going to work on Monday, he told us that we had till 3pm to leave his apartment. That was when he (Ajayi) said he was taking me to another friend’s place, but I refused. Some minutes later, the police came and rescued me,” she added.
Miracle said the suspect did not sleep with her, adding that they were not in a relationship before they met.
Asked the kind of work Ajayi did for a living, Miracle said she believed that he was into Internet scam.
“From Thursday night to Monday afternoon that I was there, he did not touch me and none of his friends did.
“He told me that he works with a company at Apapa. But I believe he is into yahoo yahoo (Internet scam). He never allowed me to touch his phone. But there was a night he was asleep and he forgot to lock the phone. I picked it and open his Hangout application. I saw him chatting with a man and claiming to be a girl.
“From this incident, I have learnt not to go out at night again. I have also stopped using a phone and removed myself from the social media,” she added.
PUNCH Metro learnt that Miracle’s father died when she was barely four years old and her mother, Foluke, had had to cater to her and her two siblings alone.
Foluke told our correspondent that she reported the case at the Idimu Police Station and the IRT’s office at Ikeja.
The mother of three said she believed Ajayi planned to do something evil with her daughter.
She said, “On that Thursday night, I was with my daughter in the house when her younger sister came to say she went to buy chin-chin outside and did not return. More than 24 hours after searching for her, we reported at Idimu and IRT’s office.
“The police said they tracked how he started calling the girl that morning. She switched off her phone and when she turned it on at night, he was the first person to call her and that was how he abducted her.
“I believe he had a mission. His family members have been begging for forgiveness, but I have referred them to the police. It is not possible for him to have kept the girl for five days without touching her, but that was what happened. So, he had a plan. Whenever he wanted to urinate, he locked her up in the room. I want the police to get to the root of the matter. From what I learnt, his calls after he took the girl had been to Kaduna and Kano states. I want to know his mission.”
The state Police Public Relations Officer, CSP Chike Oti, said investigation was ongoing.
He said, “The girl was declared missing and the case was investigated by the Inspector-General of Police Intelligence Response Team, which rescued her. The suspect is still under investigation to unravel the motive for the abduction. The boy has denied sleeping with the girl; we are looking at a suspected case of trafficking. Investigation is ongoing.”
PUNCH