The Commissioner of Police in Ogun State, CP Bode Ojajuni, on Wednesday handed over the five rescued students of Gateway Polytechnic, Saapade, to the school management and their families.
Salient Times reported that the students were abducted by armed criminals suspected to be kidnappers on Monday while returning from a restaurant in Ode, where they had gone to buy food.
According to the command spokesperson, DSP Oluseyi Babaseyi, upon receiving the information, a patrol team was deployed to the scene where an ash-coloured Toyota vehicle with visible bullet impacts and bloodstains was discovered abandoned.
Babaseyi stated that operatives of Isara Area Command, Ipara Division, SWAT, Anti-Kidnapping Unit, Violent Crime Response Unit (VCRU), Quick Response Squad (QRS), and OP MESA were immediately mobilised, leading to the safe rescue of the victims on Tuesday.
The Commissioner handed over the students to the Deputy Rector of the school, Mr Taiwo Ogunyinka, at the command’s headquarters in Eleweran, Abeokuta.
Ojajuni assured them that the command would put all it has in place to ensure that all schools and students in the state remain safe.
He said, “The Deputy Rector of Gateway ICT Polytechnic, Sapade, is here on behalf of the school to receive the victims, and I hereby hand them over to the school authority. We were in touch with them throughout yesterday.
“I’m using this opportunity to assure the management of all schools and institutions in Ogun State that the police will put in all we have to secure these schools and the students. We are equally encouraging them to constantly get in touch with the local police officers, myself, or any other senior officers in the command for us to quickly respond to any emergency or distress call that may occur from their end.
“We are in touch with all the school managements across the state, and we are putting in place extra structures to protect students,” he added.
Ojajuni also appealed to students and school authorities to cooperate with the police, seeing them as partners in progress and collaborators, in order to ensure that the state has secure campuses and safe students.
Speaking on behalf of the governing council of the institution, the Deputy Rector expressed profound gratitude to the police for the bravery and timely intervention that led to the rescue of the students.
Ogunyinka presented a letter of appreciation to the CP and assured him of their continuous support to the command in all necessary safety measures for the institution.
Meanwhile, the SUG President of the institution, Comrade Akinpelu Timothy, thanked the Commissioner of Police for his quick response to security needs in the area, adding that it has assured students that their lives are in good hands.
