The Orekoyas said yesterday that they made a mistake in placing their jobs above their children, who were released on Tuesday night after eight days in kidnappers’ den.
Reliving their ordeal, Mr and Mrs Adeleke Orekoya said their mistake was of the head and not of the heart, adding: “we paid dearly for it”.
They spoke with reporters on their Lawanson Road, Surulere, Lagos home.
They said they had no regrets hiring the woman, Funmilayo Adeyemi aka Mary Akinloye, who kidnapped the children, through OLX, an e-commerce agency.
Mr Orekoya said: “Indeed, we had our own fault which is that we prioritised work to a large extent, over our assets, including our children and as a result, we paid dearly for it. The trauma we went through cannot be described because there were some other things that came up that we didn’t discuss with anybody here.”
He lamented that fraudsters attempted to cash in on their plight to fleece them.
No fewer than four occasions did scammers pretending to be the kidnappers, calling to collect money from the family, he said.
Orekoya said: “One even called last (Wednesday) night after we have recovered our children, telling us that the kids are with him, demanding for money. You can imagine how evil some people can be.”
The family, he said, had learnt its lessons.
“We made a mistake but it doesn’t mean someone that doesn’t make mistake cannot be subjected to what we went through.
“The people who can hit you the most are the people closest to you; so someone that is far from you cannot know when you would not be at home. More so, you cannot always be with the nanny and children at all times. In fact, nobody can tell me that if he has a nanny, he or she has never left home, leaving the nanny and kids alone, except we are deceiving ourselves,” he said.
Orekoya said he knew his children would be released the day they were told to go and pick them at Egbeda, a Lagos suburb.
He said: “Although we knew that they were going to be released that day we saw them, but we were not given the actual time before they were finally released around 10.30 p.m.
“We were called to go and get them at Egbeda and when we got to the place, it was an uncompleted building and they were naked.
“We took them to the hospital for treatment before we brought them back home.”
On how he got Funmilayo, Orekoya said she was the third nanny he hired through OLX.
He said: “I do not have any regrets getting her (Funmilayo) from OLX because I have been using OLX for more than three years now.
“As a matter of fact, I have had three different nannies over the past two to three years and I got them from OLX. In fact, I must say that two nannies before this, I got them through OLX. One stayed with us for two years without any issue. The agent contacted us; we recruited her and she stayed with us for two years. When it was time for her to leave, she gave us one month notice and left thereafter.
“After that, we got another one who absconded without any information whatsoever. We gave her Easter break; she went and didn’t come back. She did not even call. And then we ran into this one.
“It can happen to anyone with a nanny whether she has been with you for three years or one day or even 25 years. The most important thing is that prayer is the only way that can safeguard one from what we went through.”
His wife, Adebisi, said she had not fully recovered from the trauma even after her children’s return.
According to her, Funmilayo behaved like an angel the first day she resumed duty.
“The way she performed on the first day, in fact she behaved well, cleaning and taking care of the children and thus leaving no chance for suspicion. She was like an angel. The lady who spent one month here could not do what she did in one day. She is a clean person and well-trained,” Mrs Orekoya said.
She added: “It was Funmilayo’s behaviour that convinced us that she was a very experienced nanny and left us with no reason than to allow her to take care of them (the kids) before the incident. This is not our first time of hiring nanny from OLX and they did fine but the way I see this one, I think she is a professional kidnapper. I advise that people should do a thorough check before hiring a nanny.’’
