Ambode responds: We’ll ensure safe return of school girls

The Governor of Lagos State, Mr. Akinwunmi Ambode, has said the state government will make all efforts to ensure the three female students abducted from Babington Macaulay Junior Seminary are rescued.
The governor’s reaction comes more than 24 hours after the girls were seized from the school in the Ikorodu area of the state.
In a statement by the Commissioner of Information of Information, Mr. Steve Ayorinde, the governor condemned the incident and gave the assurance that the police and other security operatives had set things in motion to rescue the girls and their safe return home.
He said, “We have not been silent on this unfortunate development. In a delicate security matter of this nature, where young innocent people are involved and management of information demands utmost circumspect, we were convinced that swift and coordinated reaction, guided by intelligence reports on the part of the police, was a better and more sensitive approach to take, rather than a sensational, panic-stricken reaction.”
Ambode explained that the Commissioner of Police in Lagos, Fatai Owoseni, and the Assistant Inspector-General of Police for the Lagos/Ogun Command, Bala Hassan, were at the scene and vicinity of the incident leading the coordinated effort by security operatives for the girls’ rescue.
“We believe in the capacity of the Police to lead this rescue mission. I have had ceaseless briefing with them since the incident happened and God helping us, we shall spare no effort in securing the safe release of the girls and continue to secure the school and indeed every part of Lagos,” he said.
The governor linked the abduction to his recent warning to vandals and criminal gangs when he visited parts of Ikorodu.

“We believe this is a case of evil fighting back. But Lagos will neither succumb to threats of lawlessness nor bow to terror, he said.
“Our resolve is very clear; we will assist the Police and other security agencies in dealing decisively with this one unfortunate case and prevent future reoccurrence. We will deploy the resources at our disposal to safeguard every life and property within our care.”