Precious Okoro, the 15-year-old schoolgirl, who was kidnapped by a syndicate suspected to be operating from the Niger Republic, may have been sold to a pimp in Niamey, the country’s capital.The victim’s mother, Blessing, told PUNCH Metro that she spoke with a woman on the telephone who abused her for disturbing them with calls.
She added that the unnamed woman claimed that she had bought the schoolgirl from the kidnappers.
PUNCH Metro had reported on January 27, how the Junior Secondary School three pupil was kidnapped in the Sangotedo, Ajah area of Lagos State, after she boarded a vehicle en route to her school in Ikenne, Ogun State.
Her father, Nwaigwe, was said to have seen his daughter enter the vehicle without suspecting that it was owned by kidnappers.
It was reported that a few weeks later, an official of the school called Nwaigwe to say that Precious had yet to resume since she went to Lagos.
Nwaigwe told PUNCH Metro that after waiting anxiously for about three months, the family got a call from the Nigerien kidnappers, saying his daughter was in Niamey, Niger Republic.
The abductors were said to have demanded the payment of $100,000 as ransom for her release.
A follow-up report by our correspondent said the kidnappers threatened to make Precious “work for the money” if her parents refused to pay.
When the mother, Blessing, spoke with PUNCH Metro on the telephone on Tuesday, she said a woman, who spoke with her on the phone, claimed she had bought her daughter.
She lamented that the Nigerian police were not doing enough to get her daughter.
She said, “Before, the detectives promised to take us to the Commissioner of Police, but they did not, and later, they said they would take the case to court. We refused that because we know if the matter gets to court, my daughter may not be found again.
“The kidnappers are no longer asking for money. Sometime ago, I called my daughter and she said I should stop crying, that I should be praying for her. Since that day, the line has remained unreachable.
“Another line that we tried, a man picked the call and said it was all business. He started to abuse us and insult the family, before giving the phone to another woman, who said we can go ahead and do whatever we wanted to do because she was not the one that kidnapped her from Lagos and that she only bought her from the kidnappers.”
Blessing appealed to the authorities and Nigerians to assist the family in securing Precious’ release.
She claimed that some of the suspects in custody had links with the kidnappers and that they had been using their lawyers to threaten the police.
She said, “Some of the suspects were arrested in Imo State and they know the kidnappers. But nobody is doing anything about my daughter.”
The Lagos State Police Public Relations Officer, DSP Kenneth Nwosu, had yet to respond to PUNCH Metro’s text message as of press time.
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