Father recounts ordeal of abducted nine- year- old son in Lagos
IT was a traumatic scene at a Lagos High Court sitting in Ikeja, yesterday, when Aliu Abubakar, the father of a nine- year- old boy kidnapped in the Mushin area of the state in 2022, narrated his son’s ordeal.
Abubakar, the first prosecution witness, in his testimony before Justice Adenike Coker, said after the kidnappers released the boy, he was so traumatised; he couldn’t speak. He only nodded his head and pointed at things.
He testified in the ongoing trial of Lima Auwal, Abdullahi Usman, and Seidu Abbas, charged for kidnapping the boy.
Auwal, 24; Abass, 32; and Usman, 31 allegedly abducted the boy at about 7: 30 p. m., at Ajayi Street, Idi Araba, in the Mushin area of Lagos State on November 4, 2022. Lagos State government had arraigned them before Justice Coker on a two- count charge of conspiracy to kidnap, and kidnapping.
Their offences were contrary to the provision of Section 2( 1) of the Kidnapping Prohibition Law, No. 10 of Lagos State 2017.
At the resumed trial, the prosecution witness, led- inevidence by Rukayat Owolabi, told court that his son was kidnapped on his way from an Islamic school located on the street where he lives. He said: “On November 4, 2022, after other children had returned from school, my son was nowhere to be found. I started looking for him.
“The following day , November 5, my driver , Buhari Mohammad, got a call informing him that the boy was with them ( kidnappers). They requested a ransom of $ 3,000 and N200,000, otherwise they would kill the boy.
“We started begging them. They agreed to collect N400,000. They told us where to bring the money, and the time. By then, I had reported the matter to the police. They started tracking the number used in calling my driver. The police later brought some telephone numbers and asked if I could recognise any.
“When I dialled, using my phone, I saw that they were numbers that I knew very well, saved on my phone. I told the police that we should go and arrest them. They said I should be cautious because if they become aware that we were coming with the police, they might kill the child.”