Soka kidnappers’ den: ‘My son cannot recognise me’

Soka kidnappers’ den: ‘My son cannot
recognise me’
on march 29, 2014 at 3:14 am in metro
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By OLA AJAYI, IBADAN
Is it possible for a mother not to recognize her
biological child? Or what would make a grown up
child not to recognize his mother again?
This was the scenario on Thursday at the Adeoyo
State Hospital in Ibadan where scores of people
were trying to catch a glimpse of survivors who
were rescued from the throes of death they were
subjected to by suspected kidnappers at Soka in
Ibadan.
Several parents especially women could only use
photographs to identify their wards. Years of
separation have erased some of the signs they
could use to identify their wards. Mrs. Sufianat Ola
was not sure if the skeletal figure in front of her was
her son. She sobbed uncontrollably, trying to hold
her son and embrace him but the mosquito net and
the burglary proof blocked her.
Surprisingly, her son, Adewale Ola could still
remember his sister. With his thin and barely
audible voice, he said, “my sister”. Tears freely
flowed. It wasn’t long before the weeping became
contagious as all women at the hospital put their
own sorrow behind them and wept with the woman.
A woman can joke with any other thing but not the
child she carried in her womb for nine months.
As Saturday Vanguard got to the hospital, the
women clung to the window of the ward where the
survivors were kept. Some of them could no longer
talk or recognize anybody. Apart from 45-year old
Mrs. Titilayo Dokpesi who could still mutter some
intelligible words, others were only grunting like a
pig. It would take a lot to make them behave as
normal human beings again.
When Saturday Vanguard asked Mrs. Sufianat Ola
why she was crying, she responded tearfully,
“My son can no longer recognize me. Is that not
enough reason to cry. Ah! This world is wicked. For
the past thirteen years, I have been looking for my
son not knowing he was in a dungeon.”
How did you know he was in the dungeon?
“He told me. That was what he told me. He said he
did not see anybody to rescue him from the claws
of those heartless, God-forsaken people.How can
people be so heartless all because of money.”
How are you sure he is your son?
“I have a picture he took with his friends here
before he was taken away from me. Look at the
picture he took with his sister. Apart from that,
immediately we got here, he identified her calling
her ‘my sister’. She then broke into tears”.
When Saturday Vanguard turned to Wale, he could
only mutter, “won pa, won pa” meaning, “they killed
the person”. He did not mention any name. That
was what he said last before he lost
consciousness. Probably sensing the
correspondent could help locate their missing
persons, four other women swooped on him each
saying they were also looking for their loved ones.
Saturday Vanguard listened to them one after the
other. Mrs. Anifatu Olaiya who identified herself as
the sister of two siblings that got missing said, “my
two brothers are missing. Their names are
Nurudeen Rasaki Olaiya and Ismaila Olaiya. Rasaki
was a driver who was working between Lagos and
Ibadan. He said, he was going to Lagos one day and
never came back. Ismaila, was a university
undergraduate. At the time
he got missing, he was 29 years. That was about 17
years ago. I am here to check if they could be
among those rescued from Soka”.
Morufat Olawale who lives at Olopometa in Ibadan,
said her brother
Saheed Ganiyu was last seen ten years ago. “He
was married and he had children. He just
disappeared”.
Bose Faniran, with tears in her eyes, recalled that
her brother Oluokun Adedeji has been missing since
1992 when he travelled to Lagos and Ramota
Inaolaji said she lost contact with her brother,
Moruf Adekunle Inaolaji about 13 years ago.
According to her, Adekunle’s friend came from
abroad and  Adekunle left with him. “We heard that
he boarded a taxi and had vanished since then”.
The Osun State government sent an ambulance
through its Commissioner for Youth and Sports, Mr.
Biyi Odunlade to sympathise and bring back the
indigenes of the state who are among the survivors.
But when they entered the ward to know those who
are from Osun, they were not coherent enough to
explain or give names of any member of their
families. He had to go back to Osun State promising
to come back when all necessary things have been
done.
While pledging that Osun State would work with Oyo
State to rescue those who are said to be trapped in
a dungeon, he sympathised with the government of
Oyo where some people lost their lives in the hands
of ritualists.
“Osun is ready to take them and rehabilitate them.
We have gone to see the police. We want to
rehabilitate them as part of our own rehab. We have
a programme called Osun Rehab. We are here to
see the welfare of our indigenes who were rescued.
“Our visit is also a fact- finding one . We want to go
to Soka to see what is happening there. Our
governor too is also coming.  Nigeria is becoming
more and more unsafe. If vehicles used to kidnap
these people were identified, it would not have been
easy to kidnap
them just like that. Besides, Nigeria should address
the issue of poverty and unemployment. We should
also look at the ethical orientation of our people.
This kind of incident puts a question mark on our
security. It means we still have a lot to do
concerning our security. Some people must have
seen and known such a place exists but they
thought it did not
concern them. That was why they did not report to
the security agents”. Meanwhile, the Inspector
General of Police, Mr. Mohammed Abubakar has
vowed to conduct a thorough investigation into the
matter.