How kidnappers used my 12-year-old son as collateral to buy two bags of rice – Man shares

• A 12-year-old JSS-2 student’s father has reported that suspected kidnappers used his son as a “collateral” to buy two bags of rice.

• Pastor Joshua Ogbonna claimed that the abductors took the boy to a food seller where they bought two bags of rice worth N180,000.

• A father in Lagos revealed that his son was sent to buy bean pudding for family breakfast but did not return home on Friday, March 1.

The father of a 12-year-old Junior Secondary School (JSS-2) student has revealed how suspected kidnappers used his son as ‘collateral’ to purchase two bags of rice.

According to Pastor Joshua Ogbonna, the abductors brought the youngster to a food seller and purchased two bags of rice worth N180,000.

He stated this to journalists in Lagos on Sunday. According to the father, on Friday, March 1 at around 9.00 a.m., his son was sent to buy moi-moi (bean pudding) for family breakfast but did not return home.

He stated that the boy went to the spot where the moi-moi was being sold, and the seller informed him that it was not yet ready, but received the money and instructed him to return when it was ready. However, when he returned to the woman few minutes later to get the moi-moi, he never returned.

Ogbonna said; “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 arrived earlier but the moi-moi was not ready; she received N1,000 from him and asked him to return later.

She explained that when he returned, he was accompanied by a man, whom the woman mistook for his father. The man received the moi-moi from her and they both left.

She described the man as having a dark complexion and wearing a white top and black trousers. I informed her we had been looking for him, and then we proceeded to the New Oko-Oba Police Division in Abule-Egba to submit an entry so that they might assist me in finding my child.”

The man also revealed that around 5.00 p.m., while still at the police station, he received a call from another officer who said he was calling from Red House Police Station in Iju Ishaga.

Ogbonna stated that the officer informed him that his son was with them and that he should come to the station. He stated that he went there with three officers from the New Oko-Oba Police Division, who informed the officer that there was a report of a missing child.

“The police officer, who called me, said this is not a case of a missing child, but theft. The officer said the child stole two bags of rice. I asked, how can a 12-year old boy 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 policeman 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.

According to him, the officer indicated that when the guy did not return with the money, the rice seller inquired of the youngster about the “whereabouts 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 police station with my boy to report the case, that was when they called me. The Police said there was 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 how can I bail a child. 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 stated that he departed the Red House Police Station for the Oko-Oba Police Division to close the case of the missing child with a N10,000 payment. He said his son later informed him about meeting the man on his way to buy the moi-moi.

The boy stated that while on his way to buy the moi-moi, a man stopped him and asked him to hold his phone so that he could wash his legs with water.

He said his son explained that after the man bathed his legs, he took the phone from him, smacked his head, and recited some incantations, which was the last thing he remembers.

“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, and 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.