The missing children
The Orekoya family on Lawanson Road, Surulere, Lagos State says, presently, it has no reason to be happy.
This is because a nanny employed on March 7 by the household disappeared with three children a day after she was employed.
The names of the missing children are Aderomola, (11 months), Adedamola (4 years) and Demola (6 years).
The nanny, Mary Akinloye, a 23-year-old indigene of Ibadan, Oyo State, was said to have been contracted via OLX, an online sales portal.
The children’s mother, Adebisi, told PUNCH Metro that Akinloye looked older than her age and that her claim that she was an indigene of Oyo State was questionable because of her accent.
She explained that the family had a nanny, who suddenly stopped coming to work after observing her annual leave.
She said the family subsequently put up a post on OLX, seeking the service of a new nanny.
She said, “We had someone who was taking care of the kids before now. But the woman did not show up on Saturday and Sunday and we urgently needed someone to assist because we were going to resume work on Monday. We were disturbed and that was why I posted the information on OLX.
“She (Akinloye) called us and said she was interested. She said she was 23 years. I agreed to employ her in the interim because I really did not like the fact that she was young. She agreed to collect between N10, 000 to N15,000 even though our former nanny collected N25,000.
“I left her at home this morning (Wednesday) around 7.30am. It was around 1pm that my eldest son called me and said she had taken his siblings away. He said she told him they were going out to buy some things. She took the 11 months on her back and held the others by the hand. She has since not returned.”
Adebisi said the nanny was so much in a haste to whisk the children away that she did not allow them to eat.
Her husband, Leke, a businessman, said the nanny gave the family the contacts of her relatives, who they spoke with on the telephone.
The relatives were said to have agreed to meet with the Orekoyas during the week to finalise documentation.
He said, “We spoke with two people she introduced to us as her brother and sister. They confirmed that they were her relatives.
“They gave us a vague description of where they lived in Ikorodu. We agreed to do proper documentation this week.
“It was in less than 24 hours that she went away with the kids.
“She never gave us an idea that she was on an evil mission.
“Her spoken English was fluent. She said she had a National Diploma and just wanted to make some money so she could return to school.”
PUNCH Metro learnt that the purported relatives had since remained unreachable on their telephone lines.
The family was said to have contacted the police from the Itire division, who reportedly told the family to wait for 24 hours.
The Police Public Relations Officer, Kenneth Nwosu, confirmed the abduction, saying the police had started investigation with a view to rescuing the children.
He said, “The police are making efforts to arrest the suspects and rescue the children.”
SAMSON FOLARIN
