IGP says 8 suspects in custody

According to the Inspector General of Police (IGP) Ibrahim Idris, eight suspects have been arrested in connection with last months kidnappping of six pupils of Lagos State Model College in Epe, Lagos.

He disclosed this information on Thursday, in Abuja while addressing the abduction that happened in the early hours of May 25, 2017, when armed militants attacked the school boys' hostel and escaped with six pupils on boats.

ALSO READ: The full story of how militants kidnapped 6 students

Idris said the force is concerned about the safety of the kidnapped pupils and is doing everything in its powers to ensure that they are returned safely.

He said, "When conducting operations such as this, the safety of the children is very important and we are concentrating all our efforts on protecting the lives of those children.

"The creeks surrounding Epe and Ikorodu are always connected with kidnapping. We are going to have a permanent solution to the security in those areas but we and the state government have to advise school owners on where to site schools.

"Why are they building schools in areas that are vulnerable to activities like kidnapping. We have to take the security of the children serious and consider the environment where schools are built because location matters.

"You don’t site a school where somebody can park a boat, go off the boat and pick targets and zoom off.

"We are looking into that and we have organisations supporting us in the construction of gunboats and in a month or two, some of the gunboats will be used to patrol the creeks and more marine officers will be trained and the creeks will be more safe because they will be patrolled using the gunboats."

The kidnappers have reportedly asked for ransom.