On December 26, Omolola Odutola, the Ogun State Police spokesperson, denied claims that officers at the Sango Division demanded N40,000 from a complainant reporting a missing seven-year-old girl.
Two days later, Muyiwa Adejobi, the spokesperson of the Nigeria Police Force (NPF), confirmed that, contrary to Odutola’s claim, policemen indeed requested money to act on the missing girl’s case.
Adejobi’s post on his X page on Saturday morning reads: “Otta missing girl: The Ogun State Police Command has been on the case. The girl will be found as soon as possible.
“Also, the policemen who demanded money before they could attend to the case have been arrested and kept in detention for disciplinary action. We have condemned such an act, and we won’t tolerate it. It’s inhuman, apathetic and unprofessional. We urge the family of the victim to work with the police on the case. Thanks.”
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Checks by FIJ showed that what prompted Odutola’s press statement issued on Thursday and sent out to pressmen via a WhatsApp group ‘Ogun Command Press Release Updates’ was a viral post shared on X the previous day.
Miyakee (@mimara_concept), an X user, detailed how his seven-year-old cousin had gone missing two days before Christmas. The missing girl’s family suspected that she was kidnapped by a male customer who frequently patronised the child’s mother who operates a Point of Sale (PoS) business in Sango Ota.
“My cousin is missing. She was kidnapped by a stranger on the 23rd of December, 2024. The mom, my aunty, does POS business at Sango, Ogun State. She has a male customer who usually comes to withdraw money and buy recharge cards. He doesn’t stay in the area,” wrote Miyakee on December 25.
My cousin is missing. She was kidnapped by a stranger on the 23rd of December, 2024. The mom, my aunty, does POS business at Sango, Ogun State. She has a male customer that usually comes to withdraw money and buy recharge cards. He doesn’t stay in the area. He became friends… pic.twitter.com/GOWnr00k02— Miyakee 🇳🇬🇨🇦 (@mimara_concept) December 25, 2024
The poster said the suspected kidnapper became friends with the little girl and was always buying her food and gifting her money whenever he came to the store.
He was at the girl’s mother’s shop on the morning of December 23, when the girl was last seen.
The X user’s narration went thus: “He came to the store, bought food for himself and the little girl. As usual, the mom was busy attending to other customers. He sent the little girl to go get pure water for him. On her way back, he approached her halfway to get the pure water from her.
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“The mum saw this and wasn’t comfortable with it but was distracted by the attention from other customers. By the time she turned towards the daughter’s direction to check what was happening, the guy and her daughter were nowhere to be found.
“They searched everywhere for them but to no avail. She tried calling the customer (she had his phone number). He picked up and said he was at Sango under bridge and that he was going to call her back. Up till now, he has refused to answer his call. Now the number is no longer reachable.
“We still cannot find my cousin.”
When the family went to report the incident at the police station in Sango, the policemen asked them to pay N10,000 to report the case and an additional N30,000 to track the suspected kidnapper’s phone number.
While reacting to the post on Thursday, the Ogun police spokesperson labelled it “false information and misleading report”. She stated that there was no demand for N40,000.
THE FULL STATEMENT
AZ: 5310/OGS/PRO/VOL.7/278. 26/12/2024.
OGUN STATE POLICE COMMAND PRESS RELEASE.
FALSE INFORMATION AND MISLEADING REPORT BY AN ONLINE BLOGGER OVER AN ALLEGED DEMAND OF MONEY FOR TRACKING.
The Ogun State Police Command has acknowledged a misleading report regarding an alleged demand for forty thousand naira (#40,000) from a complainant by police officers in the Sango Division to incident a suspected kidnapping case.
The publisher of the report relied solely on a one-sided account from a social media handle, which was not verified by the Ogun State Police Command, leading to the publication of a false narrative about Sango Division.
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The writer, without proper investigation or consultation, produced a malicious story that overlooked the seriousness of the substantive case of suspected kidnapping involving a 7-year-old girl named Mercy Akande who is now held captive and the traumatising challenges faced by her family, who have been contacted for ransom.
Contrary to the allegations, there was no demand for forty thousand naira. However, the police officer who received the complaint from the counter acted unprofessionally, as the matter was not escalated to the divisional police officer, which is necessary for appropriate attention. Internal disciplinary measures have been melted against the erring police officers for failure to notify the Divisional police officer (DPO) of the magnitude of the report.
The Divisional police officer has since reached out to the victim’s family, who have provided valuable information and efforts to locate the kidnappers and rescue the victim unhurt has commenced.
The public is urged to disregard this misinformation and to assist the Ogun State Police Command by sharing the pictures of the kidnapped victim to help facilitate her safe return and hereby further solicit anonymous information from well meaning individuals to assist the police track and arrest the kidnappers.
SP Omolola Odutola, aniprPolice Public Relations Officer,Ogun State Police Command HeadquartersEleweran Abeokuta.
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