[size=13pt]‘Trusted home help kidnapped Sharon’[/size]

If you call it a betrayal of trust, you may not be wrong. The kidnap of Sharon Omolayo, a pupil of Avi-Cenna International School, GRA, Ikeja, Lagos State, last Monday was masterminded by a member of her household, Damilare Akamo.


Akamo, who was declared missing alongside Sharon, was described by the girl’s parent as a trusted home help, who had been with the family for six years.


It was therefore shocking to the family on Tuesday as Akamo confessed that he was the one that took Sharon to a hideout in Alakuko area of the state and connived with two of his friends he identified simply as Iskilu and Lukman to demand ransom from the family.


“I wanted to collect N500, 000 ransom but I did not know that my friends were asking for N10m. It was when I discovered that they were not working in line with our agreement that I called Mr. Ebenezer Omolayo (Sharon’s father) and told him where to locate us and the police came to the place yesterday (Monday),” Akamo said.


The home help said he committed the crime because he needed N250, 000 to start his own business. Akanmo, who was trained as a welder, said he abandoned welding when he could not make ends meet.


Since he first met the Omolayos in Port Harcourt, Rivers State in 2004, he has been a member of the household. It was gathered that when the family moved to Ibadan, the Oyo State capital and later to Lagos, Akamo was part of the family’s itinerary.


Akamo said, “I want to be on my own. I want to set up my welding business again and by my estimate, I need N250, 000. But why I picked on the family, I will never know. They are nice to me. They feed me, clothe me, house me and give me N15, 000 as monthly salary. When I told my boss (Ebenezer) about my intention, he encouraged me. He even gave me N40, 000 to buy one of the machines I would need for the new job.


“When it was apparent that I could not raise the money, I told my boss (Ebenezer) to lend me N250, 000. When he could not raise it, I started thinking of ways to raise the money and after discussing with my friends, we decided to kidnap somebody. I took care of Sharon for the eight days she was with us and she was okay. I am very sorry.”


Ebenezer said the family did not in their wildest imagination think that Akamo could kidnap their daughter. “We thought he was a victim too. It was when police started their investigation that they told us that he was involved. This is really traumatic for all of us. We thought they were victims of ritual killers. Since the call came last Monday, we have not rested,” he said.


The spokesman of the police command in the state, Mr. Frank Mba, said the police were still searching for Akamo’s accomplices.


He explained that the kidnapping was foiled by the policemen attached to Criminal Investigation Bureau, who took over the case from Area F, where the case was initially reported.


“We were able to track their calls and soon we identified the house they were making the calls from. It was Iskilu, who also identified himself as Ibraheem, that was negotiating with the family. We spoke with the suspects’ parents and relatives and it was soon obvious to them that the police were on the trail of the kidnappers. That was why the suspects capitulated and Akamo called Sharon’s parents after eight days of kidnapping the girl. The parents in turn contacted the police, who rescued the girl alive,” Mba said, adding that those involved in the kidnapping would face the full wrath of the law.

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