A runaway teenage girl, Taiwo Olakunle, who was believed to be hiding at a lover’s place, resurfaced last week Thursday at her family church on Taju Bello Street, Oke Aro Road in the Iju area of Lagos.Olakunle, 18, had fled home since Wednesday, November 12, 2014.PUNCH Metro had reported last Wednesday, January 14, that the police at Iju were searching for the teenager, who until her disappearance was staying with her guardians on Adeosun Street, Balogun bus stop, Iju.Our correspondent learnt that Olakunle came back to her church area the following day after PUNCH Metro’s report, and requested to see her grandmother, who also lived in the area.It was gathered that officers from the Iju Police Division, who learnt of her appearance, moved to the place and took her away to the station for questioning.
Olakunle told the police on Friday in her statement that she fled from home to stay with a lover in the Alagbado area.She said she fled from the area because she was worried that her suspected assaulters were charged to court by the police, which she did not think was a good step. She added that she was worried about her safety.
She said, “Those guys who beat me up were truly arrested by the police, and they were asked to get me treated. I did not know they would be charged to court for it.“When I learnt that they were charged to court, I was troubled. I then decided to leave the area and run to a lover’s house.
The statement the police took from me was perhaps doctored to make the men’s offence seem bigger. I did not expect they would be taken to court.”Speaking with PUNCH Metro, the husband of Olakunle’s aunt, Ibrahim Lawal, said the family was glad to have the girl back.He said, “My wife and I had suffered. It got to a point that people said we had used the girl for rituals.
We are glad that she was back.”The Lagos State Police Public Relations Officer, DSP Kenneth Nwosu, confirmed that the runaway girl had been seen.He said, “Olakunle is at the Iju Police Division. She had been hiding at a boyfriend’s place.“There are further enquiries going on. She will be thereafter reunited with her guardians.”Our correspondent learnt on Sunday that Olakunle had left the police division, and she was now at her grandmother’s place near the family church in Iju Ishaga.
