Suspected fraudster abducts
Facebook female friend
• He touched me and I lost my senses
– Victim
Samson Folarin
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.
PUNCH Metro learnt that 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.”
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