Turkish Colleges’ PTA denies being warned of imminent kidnap
NTIC
The Parents and Teachers Association (PTA) of the Nigerian Turkish International Colleges (NTIC) in Ogun State yesterday denied reports in some quarters that they were pre-warned before the kidnappers struck their school last Friday.
The PTA in a statement made available to newsmen, were reacting to claims that they were warned three weeks before the attack. They said those that made those claims should be seen as suspects of complicity.
The Principal and Vice Principal, Ercon Yilmaz and Aderoju OE signed the statement, respectively, as well as four parents, namely Joyce Alhassan, Awobode Afolashade, Kalyele F and Bukola Jimoh.
The statement reads in part: “The erroneous claims that the school had been warned three weeks before the attack is totally false. Those who claimed to warn the school of imminent attack ought to be suspects of complicity.
“Our focus now is the release of our students and staff. We are not to be drawn into any unproductive arguments. In order to focus on the efforts to free the abducted victims and to show solidarity with them, the school declared a break and this was deliberately twisted to claim parents are withdrawing their children.
“The school has always taken the security of students and staff seriously, hence there were resident armed mobile policemen and some internal security officers on ground on the day of the incident.
“We stand resolute in unshaken faith that our daughters and teachers would return without harm and we also wish to extend our appreciation to the relevant security agencies for their efforts so far.
“We are aware that those behind the evil act have made contacts with some relatives of the victims and we are quite optimistic that the kidnappers would have a change of heart and release from hostage our daughters and teachers.
“We, however, appeal to the press and the general public to disregard most of the rumours currently making the rounds on this unfortunate development, and rely on the police and the school authorities for information on the matter.”
