By Evelyn Usman & Victor Akpa-fresh

LAGOS – A 43-year-old man kidnnapped two teenaged girls, aged 11 and 15, respectively, holding them captive at his shanty in abattoir area of Agege, Lagos.

Surprisingly, one of the girls said to have been under his custody since she was 12 years, was discovered to have disappeared under mysterious circumstances from her parents’ home in Ika South-East local government area of Delta State three years ago.

The second girl, according to the Police Public Relations Officer, Mr. Samuel Jinadu, who paraded the suspect before newsmen yesterday, was said to have been abducted from her parents’ home in Benin, Edo State.

The suspect (names witheheld) told a bewildered crowd that he abducted one of the girls at Ikpoba Hill, Benin, following her father’s refusal for him to marry her elder sister.

He explained that at the initial stage, Cynthia’s parents never expressed their dislike in his asking their daughter’s hand in marriage until he had spent over N6,000, only for his proposal to be turned down.

In an apparent revenge, the suspect said he abducted Cynthia about six months ago and made straight for Lagos.

But the bubble burst following his sudden move from Benin, as those who got wind of his relocation to Lagos reportedly contacted the Lagos State Police Command, where according to Jinadu, after due investigation, he was traced to his hide out at an abattoir in Agege area of Lagos.

During preliminary investigation, Jinadu said, “it was discovered that he had earlier  kidnaped a teenager identified simply as Happiness, from Ika South East local government of Edo state, three years ago. Then the victim,  was twelve years old”

The Akwa-Ibom state born suspect according to Jinadu, would be charged to court, adding that efforts were on to contact Happiness’ parents. Reminding kidnappers that Lagos was a no go area for them, Jinadu assured that the command had put  necessary machineries in place to curb the menace in the state.