LIKE the biblical Daniel who was delivered from the jaws of
the lions right inside their den, a history student of the Adeyemi College of
Education, Ondo, Oluwaseun Mary Olaniyan, has experienced the same divine
escape after 11 days in the kidnappers den...
Divine because it was when her
captors were quarreling over the price to sell the body part of another
“inmate” who had been slaughtered that she summoned courage and fled by running
blindly into the bush. Some female students of the same institution were
kidnapped and slaughtered by three ritualists who have been arrested and
paraded in Akure, the state capital by the state police command. Three breasts
and hands according to the ritualists were sold for N15million. The college is
gradually becoming a market for ritualists to catch prey going by the number of
students that have been declared missing in the last few months. The story of their
kidnap is similar, their abductors pose as either Okada riders or taxi drivers
ready to convey the students after lectures to their different homes. Findings
showed that majority of the students live off campus and the number of those
who troop out on a daily basis after school hours makes it easy for people with
criminal intentions to get away with it. The murdered three girls rode on Okada
and a few minutes after leaving the vicinity of the college, they were
hypnotised and taken to the thick forest where they were killed and
dismembered. Their left breasts and hands were chopped off and transported to
the merchant who resides in Ijebu Igbo, Ogun State. Luck ran out on them as one
of the ritualists was involved in an armed robbery incident and was caught
after which he confessed and led police detectives to where the girls,
decomposing bodies were recovered. The decomposing corpse of two of the three
students, Oladepo Blessing and Oluwasemilore Mary, were recovered by the
detectives inside the thick forest. However, because of divine intervention,
sister Mary as she is fondly called by her mates in school, saw an opportunity
to escape and took it though it was a dangerous adventure that if apprehended
by the fierce looking kidnappers would have ended her life. Narrating her
ordeal and how she eventually escaped from the kidnappers den at a thanksgiving
service in her parents church- the Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG),
Ogunsulire Street in Ondo, Mary said she was kidnapped by men in a vehicle painted
in the state taxi colour at about 6.30pm outside the main gate of the
institution. She said, “I boarded a taxi cab alongside a lady at the same
location in Ondo town. “Two of them were going to Yaba in Ondo city. As soon as
I boarded the vehicle, I became unconscious. I later found myself in a building
located inside a thick forest. We were six in their hideout and we were fed
only with water. We saw strange men coming in a Sports Utility Vehicle to
collect something I suspected to be human parts which was concealed in a
cellophane bag. “My escape from the hands of the kidnappers was divine. It was
while they were quarrelling that I took the opportunity to escape into the
bush. I trekked inside the forest until I got to the Ile-Oluji/Ipetu Ijesa road
where I met a lady and asked for directions to Ondo town. The lady told me I
was very close to Ile-Oluji. When I got to Igbo Oja I made efforts to reach my
mother on her phone. I contacted my mother. My father immediately called me and
I informed him that I had reached Itanla junction along Ondo/Akure highway.”
During the church service her parents, Mr. and Mrs. Akintan Olaniyan were full
of praises to the Almighty God for the divine escape of their daughter. Their
pastors and church members jumped for joy, singing and praising God on behalf
of the Olaniyan family. Vanguard also learned that the same scenario played
itself out at college as students and workers were seen expressing joy of
Sister Mary’s safe return. Parents of sister Mary thanked authorities of the
college, the Police, other security agencies for their efforts to secure the
release of their daughter from the “ lions den.” The news of the escape of the
student spread across the town and members of the public trooped to the church
to have a glimpse of the lucky girl. Vanguard gathered that the arrival of the
missing girl elicited excitement and joy across the town. Provost of the
College, Dr. Olukoya Ogen, Vanguard was informed, has equally thanked God for
seeing sister Mary through the lions’ den. Dr. Ogen commended security
operatives for all their efforts in securing the release of their student. The
provost thanked the Osemawe of Ondo Kingdom, Oba Victor Adesimbo Kiladejo and
other management staffs and staffs of the College who assisted with prayers for
the safe return of the student. Meanwhile, worried by the security challenges
in the state in the last few months, Governor Rotimi Akeredolu has summoned and
met with security chiefs, traditional rulers, council chairmen and other
stakeholders on how to end the challenges. Cases of kidnapping of traditional
rulers and innocent persons, cult war, armed robberies, killings by fulani
herdsmen, arson amongst other crimes have increased anxiety across the state.
Akeredolu during the meeting expressed concern over the security challenges
since he assumed office. He said, “There have been some security challenges in
the State since we came on board. There had been cases of kidnapping, murder
and arson in some of our communities. The menace of the Hausa-Fulani herdsmen
in the communities increases by the day. In sum, the lives and properties of
our dear people have been at great risk.” The governor said that the meeting
with the stakeholders was “to deliberate on this ugly development with a view
to taking drastic measures to end the security challenges. My administration
has already taken some proactive measures to ensure the security of the good
people of Ondo State by the deployment of more detachment of security personnel
to the State. This is to ensure the security of lives and property of the good
people of Ondo State. By the grace of God, never again will Ondo State witness
the kidnap of any of our traditional rulers. I wish to appeal to our
traditional rulers to continue to cooperate and collaborate with this
Administration in the maintenance of peace in their respective domains.”
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