by Anike Jacobs

Once bitten, twice shy!

Leke Orekoya, the father of the three children who were kidnapped in Lagos but later rescued, on Thursday has advised parents to devote more time to their children as they accorded to their work.

While fielding questions from journalists at his residence at the Lawanson area of Surulere, he revealed that the family had been subscribing for the services of a nanny through OLX for over three years and never had any complaint.

“We got our first nanny from OLX and she stayed with us for more than two years until she decided she wanted to leave. We got the second one who spent three months and told us she wanted to go and spend Easter holidays at her home town and we realized she was not coming back again. It was then we decided to subscribe for another one who spent less than two days when she perpetrated this evil. We cannot charge OLX because it was only a platform for you to meet or transact any business. We ought to have done thorough check before we finally accommodated her,’’ Orekoya said.

His wife, Adebisi, on the other hand said that she had not fully regained herself from the trauma even when the children had finally returned.

“This is not our first time of hiring nanny from OLX and they did fine but the way I see this one, I think she is a professional kidnapper. The way she performed on the first day, in fact she behaved well, cleaning and taking care of the children and thus leaving no chance for suspicion. It was her behavior that convinced us that she was a very experienced nanny and left us with no reason not to allow her to take care of them before the incident. I advise that people should do a thorough check before hiring a nanny,’’ Adebisi said.

The Orekoya family commended the effort of Nigeria Police Force, the media and everybody who had contributed financially and morally toward the rescue of their children.

The family, however, declined comment on whether any amount was paid as ransom.

Sola