•Three students, 1 teacher, others abducted in night attack
The principal of the Nigerian Turkish International Colleges (NTIC), Isheri, Ogun State, yesterday gave an account of how eight students and staff of the school were abducted at gunpoint by people suspected to be kidnappers.
The principal, Yunus Emre Dogan, said the gunmen arrived the school premises on Friday night armed and began to shoot sporadically, adding that there was panic everywhere.
Yunus said further that the abductors swiftly dashed into the female hostel where three students were kidnapped alongside the house mistress and a Turkish teacher that teaches mathematics in the school.
According to him, the abductors dug a big hole through a side of the College’s perimeter fence from where they escaped through the bushy and swampy part of the area.
Dogan offered the explanation of the incident when the Deputy Governor of Ogun State, Princess Yetunde Onanuga, visited the school on Saturday in company of other members of the state Executive Council for on-the-spot assessment of the situation.
The Nation gathered that among those abducted are three regular students and two others who were preparing for the Joint Admission and Matriculation Board exams and three members of staff while a cook was also taken away from the kitchen.
Addressing the agonising parents at the school, Onanuga, assured that the government was committed to the safe return of the students, saying state government had put security measure in place in that direction.
The deputy-governor appealed to parents and guardians of the pupils to remain calm and not engage in panic withdrawal of their children from the school.
“We are here to express our concern and sympathy. It is unfortunate that, this is happening barely few days on school resumption. When we heard about it, we quickly sprang into action, hence the urgent visit.
“Our government has put necessary security measure 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.”
But Funmi Tijani has blamed the management of the school for the security lapses that led to the abduction.
Tijani said the college did not put in place, enough security measures including security, to forestall the incident.
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 scenerio and she’s traumatised, psychologically, they are not balanced, you don’t expect me to leave her behind.”