As of the time of filing this report, it was learnt that one of the prime suspects, one Iya Ibeji, was leading the police to where the victim was held in the Mushin area of the state.
PUNCH Metro had exclusively reported that Samuel’s parents ran into a financial crisis which made them to take the teenager to a Lagos trader, Iya Meta, who gave them N8,000.
The payment was said to be for the two months that Samuel would work for her.
However, Iya Meta sent him to some three women, who claimed to be traders on the Lagos Island.
The traders, who claimed to have paid Iya Meta N72,000 for Samuel’s service, passed him to another family.
Trouble started when Samuel’s parents, at the expiration of the two months he was supposed to work for Iya Meta, raised the alarm that he could not be found.
Iya Meta was said to have directed them to the Ijora Badia Police Division, where she said the matter was being handled by two policewomen, Titi and Funmilayo.
The two policewomen allegedly told Samuel’s parents to pay the N72,000 given to Iya Meta for the victim’s service, failing which he would have to work till October 2017.
A mild drama played out around 8am on Thursday when Iya Meta called our correspondent, saying she had caught one of the three women she gave the victim to.
“I was riding on a motorcycle when I sighted the three women on the road. When they saw me, they took to their heels. I gave them a chase and called on people that they were kidnappers. We eventually caught up with one of them, Iya Ibeji,” she told our correspondent on the telephone.
Our correspondent advised her to immediately report the case to the nearest police station.
PUNCH Metro called the victim’s stepfather, Idowu Isiaka, informing him of the development and suggesting he should call Iya Meta to ascertain her location.
Isiaka later informed our correspondent that the matter had been taken to the Adeniji Adele Police Division.
However, it was learnt that policemen from the Ijora Badia Division sent a signal to the Adeniji Adele Police Station, asking that the matter be transferred to them.
When our correspondent called Isiaka to get an update on the case around 2pm, he said the police had detained him and Iya Meta.
He said, “The police are angry that I reported the case to PUNCH. They said you implicated their officers and that I shouldn’t have reported to you. They have detained me along with Iya Meta. They said they would transfer the case to the State Criminal Investigation and Intelligence Department, Yaba.”
Iya Meta said she had no hand in the trafficking of the victim and appealed for our correspondent’s help.
“Please help me. I am innocent and I didn’t collect anything from these women. They have turned everything against me,” she said.
She informed our correspondent that the police had already followed Iya Ibeji to Mushin, where the victim was.
The state Police Public Relations Officer, ASP Olarinde Famous-Cole, said investigations were ongoing into the incident.
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