Meet The maid that Kidnapped the Orekeyas, She says kidnapping is a family business.
She added that Kareem was the head of a kidnap ring
that involved some members of his family. It was
gathered that Kareem escaped arrest.
The nanny, who adopted a pseudonym, Mary
Akinloye, to deceive the Orekoyas, confessed that her
actual name was Funmilayo Adeyemi, a 35-year-old
indigene of Osun State.
PUNCH Metro had reported that the Orekoyas had
posted on OLX, an online sales portal, saying they
needed a nanny for their children.
The suspect was said to have contacted the family
and was employed immediately.
Barely 24 hours after she was employed, the nanny
abducted three children of the family – Aderomola
(11 months), Adedamola (4 years) and Demola (6
years).
Our correspondent reported that N15m ransom was
initially demanded from the family, which was later
reduced to N13 after much appeal by the victims'
mother.
PUNCH Metro reported that the family paid an
undisclosed amount of money into the bank account
of the kidnappers before the children were released
on Tuesday.
On Thursday, the Commissioner of Police, Lagos
State, Kayode Aderanti, announced that the nanny
had been arrested.
She was paraded at the Lagos State Police Command
Headquatres in Ikeja.
The suspect told our correspondent that it was the
second time she would be abducting kids in the state.
She confessed to have been responsible for the
kidnap of two kids– Rapheal and Michael – in the
Magodo area of Lagos State.
Adeyemi said her husband, four children and she
were formerly living in the Ajah area of Lagos State,
but relocated to Shasha to evade arrest after
kidnapping the Magodo boys.
Adeyemi claimed that the victims' parents paid N2m,
adding that she was paid N30,000 by her husband.
She said she was contacted for maid jobs through
her brother-in-law and his wife, who were always
online to track posts.
On how she kidnapped the Orekoya children, she
said, "On Wednesday, their father and mother went
to work. I put the little one on my back, while I held
the others by the hands, telling them that I wanted to
buy them something. We boarded a vehicle to
Ojuelegba and from there; I took another bus to
Iyana Ipaja and contacted my husband.
"I took them home, where they stayed with me in one
of the rooms. I bought cereal for the 11-months-old
baby; he was always fed with pap at his mother's
place. I gave the others normal food. They always
watch cartoon on the television; they never missed
home.
"My husband told me that he wanted to collect a
token from the parents, but the following day, I found
out that the kidnappers demanded N15m.
"I challenged my husband for asking for such a big
sum. He said I should shut up because I had already
fulfilled my part and that it was time for them to do
theirs. Later, I heard in the news that he had reduced
it to N13m."
The 35-year-old said she did not feel any remorse for
her action until she saw the victims' mother weeping
on a national television.
She said she begged her husband to release the kids.
"But my husband said he would not release the kids
until he collected the money. Later, he told me they
had paid the money," she added.
PUNCH Metro learnt that the kidnap gang consisted
of four people– Adeyemi's brother-in-law, Hakeem
Kareem; her husband, Waheed Kareem; her sister-in-
law, Ajoke Oseni, and herself.
She said when the police arrested her, she was at a
fan repairer's workshop, adding that her husband
saw them taking her away and fled.
Adeyemi said she was a victim of bad marriage,
advising parents to always investigate on the kind of
man their daughters intended to marry.
She appealed to the Orekoya family to forgive her of
her wrongs.
She said, "Mummy Damola, don't be offended at what
I have done. This is what bad marriage did to me. I
only delivered the message of my husband."
PUNCH Metro learnt that when the police arrested
the suspect, a 16-year-old girl, Henrietta Odili, was
equally apprehended.
Odili, an indigene of Delta State was said to be living
with an uncle in Benin, when she saw a post on OLX
that the gang needed a maid.
Odili, a Senior Secondary School pupil, told our
correspondent that she ran away from home to work
with the group and she was overwhelmed by the love
they showed her.
She said, "I met this woman (Adeyemi) through OLX. I
was searching for a job online when I saw that she
needed a maid and I decided to work with her. When
I got to their place in Lagos, they took my phone and
said they would return it after one month. But they
never did until after two months. When they returned
it, they had removed my SIM card. I observed that all
their things were done in secrecy."
Asked if she saw the Orekoya kids when they were
kidnapped, she said Adeyemi told her they were
children of a popular artiste, Waje.
She said, "When she brought the first two kids–
Michael and Rapheal – she said they were her family
members and were on holiday.
"She told me that the new boys were Waje's children
and their mother asked her to take care of them. I
never suspected I was living with kidnappers.
"But yesterday (Wednesday), we went to visit
somebody. I just noticed she started running and I
ran with her. The police caught up with us and said
she was a kidnapper, and I was a suspect."
The Commissioner of Police said the police got the
suspect by tracking her telephone line.
He said, "Upon the rescue of the kids, I gave the
directive that she should be arrested. We tracked her
down through her phone, using the technological
tools at our disposal. We arrested her at Shasha,
where the children were rescued.
"Initially she denied that she was involved in the
kidnap. But eventually she opened up. We are in hot
pursuit of others and we will get them soon."
Aderanti advised parents and guardians not to be in
a hurry to employ house helps without doing
background checks on them."
When our correspondent visited the residence of the
Orekoyas on Lawanson Road, he met the family in a
joyous mood.
The children were seen playing around the house.
On their experience, one of the children, Demola,
said, "Our aunty took us to our new house. She gave
us bread, indomie and rice. They put us in a bag, like
the one they put rice in, and put us inside the car."
Their mother, Adebisi, said despite the criticism that
had trailed her decision to hire a nanny on OLX, she
did not think she was wrong.
She said by employing a nanny, she was also creating
a job.
Their father, Leke, refused to disclose the amount
paid to the kidnappers.
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