How kidnappers used 12-year-old boy as collateral to buy rice
A 12-year-old Junior Secondary School (JSS-2) student, was beaten to a pulp by traders after criminals used him as collateral to buy two bags of rice.
The father of the boy, Pastor Joshua Ogbonna, disclosed to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos that his son had been sent to purchase moi-moi for the family’s breakfast on the morning of Friday, March 1st.
Unfortunately, the boy failed to return home as anticipated.
Tragically, it was revealed that upon reaching the designated place to buy the moi-moi, the seller informed the child that it was not yet prepared but still accepted the payment, instructing him to return once it was ready.
Regrettably, when the boy revisited the seller to collect the moi-moi, he mysteriously vanished.
“We were looking for him everywhere, we went to the place he was supposed to buy the moi-moi and asked the lady selling.
“She explained that the boy was there earlier but the moi-moi was not ready, and that she collected N1000 from him and asked him to come back later.
“She explained that when he came back, he came with a man and the lady thought the man was his father, the man collected the moi-moi from her and they both left.
“She said the man was putting on white top and black trousers, dark in complexion. I told her we have been looking for him, and thereafter, we went to New Oko-Oba Police Division at Abule-Egba, to make entry, so that they can help me look for my child,” he said.
Ogbonna elaborated that while they were still at the station at around 5:00 p.m., he received a call from another police officer claiming to be from Red House Police Station, Iju Ishaga.
According to Ogbonna, the officer informed him that his son was in their custody and requested him to come to the station.
Ogbonna, accompanied by three policemen from New Oko-Oba Police Division, reached the station where they expressed concerns over a reported missing child.
“The officer who contacted me insisted that this was not a missing child case but one of theft,” Ogbonna shared. The officer alleged that the child had stolen two bags of rice.
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Puzzled by the accusation, Ogbonna questioned, “How could a 12-year-old boy manage to steal two bags of rice?” I told the officer that we live in Abule-Egba.
The police showed me a footage of two men and the boy, who went to the rice seller. The police man said that the men bought two bags of rice for N180,000.
“The officer said one of the men claimed that they had a church event and needed to buy rice. The man claimed he was the father of the boy.
“He asked the boy to wait at the rice shop, while he went home to get the money, he left with the two bags of rice in company of the other man,” he explained.
Ogbonna said the officer explained that when the man did not come back with the money, the rice seller asked the boy the “whereabout of his father who brought him there.”
“My boy told the rice seller that he didn’t know the man nor where he lived, they started beating him, calling him thief, while he was being beaten, a man came up to his rescue.
“They told him all that happened. They went to the police station with my boy to report the case, that was when they called me. The Police said there is a CCTV Camera that captured them when they were coming to carry the rice.
“They didn’t show me where they were carrying the rice. The rice sellers insisted that I must pay for the rice, I told them, I can’t pay for two bags, I will pay for one bag for my son to be released to me.
“I paid N90,000 for one bag of rice. After that, Police said I must bail my child, I told them it was not possible. They insisted, then I told them, I will leave my child with them if they refuse to release him to me.
“I later paid N5,000 to bail my son,” he said.
Ogbonna reported that he proceeded from the Red House Police Station to the Oko-Oba Police Division to conclude the investigation into a missing child case, after making a payment of N10,000.
His son later recounted a disturbing encounter he had while heading to buy moi-moi. According to the boy, he was stopped by a man along the way who requested him to hold onto his phone while he washed his legs with water.
After handing the man his phone, the son explained that the man suddenly struck him on the head, muttered some incantations, and from that point on, he couldn’t recall what happened next.
“My son said the only thing he could remember was that he was on top of a motorcycle to a place with the man, where they took a tricycle (Keke Maruwa) to another place, from there, they took another motorcycle to Opawale, where the man abandoned him.
“The trauma was hell for my son. He has not recovered up till now. It was God, who saved his life,” Ogbonna said.
The Lagos Police Command’s spokesperson, SP Benjamin Hundeyin, confirmed the incident, stressing that the police was investigating the case.
Hundeyin advised traders to beware of fraudsters using innocent children as collateral to obtain goods.
“He insisted that they leave with their brother or sister and bring the money before they can take any item,” he counseled.
