The Oyo State Police Command has confirmed the abduction of a 12-year-old schoolgirl in the Challenge area of Ibadan, sparking fresh concerns over rising insecurity in the state.
The victim, a Junior Secondary School 2 (JSS2) student of Monarch Model College, was reportedly kidnapped in the early hours of Thursday, February 12, while being dropped off at school by her mother. Eyes Of Lagos reports,
According to eyewitness accounts, the attackers, described as armed and masked, arrived in an unmarked vehicle and allegedly followed the girl and her mother before launching the attack at a junction close to the school premises.
The assailants were said to have fired gunshots into the air to intimidate residents and create panic, before puncturing the tyre of the mother’s Toyota RAV4 with Lagos registration number KRD 350 GP.
Despite attempts by the mother to resist, the gunmen reportedly forcefully took the child and fled the scene, disappearing through the Challenge axis of Ibadan.
The incident was immediately reported at the Orita Challenge Police Station, where officers promptly moved to the scene alongside the victim’s mother for a preliminary investigation.
Confirming the development, the Police Public Relations Officer of the Oyo State Command, DSP Olusola Olayinka Ayanlade, said the abduction occurred at about 7:20 a.m.
“Preliminary information indicates that at about 7:20 a.m., a 12-year-old female student of a private secondary school in the area was allegedly abducted by unknown armed men at a junction leading to the school premises as she was alighting from the vehicle that conveyed her to school,” he stated.
DSP Ayanlade added that detectives were immediately deployed, eyewitnesses questioned, and intelligence gathering intensified to track down the perpetrators. He said the victim’s parents are working closely with law enforcement authorities.
The Commissioner of Police in Oyo State, CP Femi Haruna, has ordered a comprehensive, intelligence-led manhunt to ensure the safe rescue of the abducted schoolgirl and the arrest of those responsible.
The police assured residents that all necessary resources are being mobilised to tackle the situation, while urging members of the public to provide useful information that could aid the investigation.
The incident has triggered renewed calls for improved security around schools and residential areas in Ibadan and other parts of the state.