As part of the efforts by the Plateau State Police Command to arrest the rampant cases of kidnapping in the state, 17-year-old SS3 student Elisha Anthony, who kidnapped and killed a five-year-old boy after collecting a ransom of N400,000 from the victim’s parents, has been apprehended.

The State Commissioner of Police, CP Julius Alawari, told journalists at the command headquarters in Jos Plateau State on Thursday that the Anti-Kidnapping Unit of the command received a phone call early this month that one Dawon Pam, a 5-year-old boy, was missing and that all searches throughout the night proved abortive.

He stated that the following day of the incident, a pair of shoes belonging to the victim was found close to a handwritten note stating that “If he wants his child, he should give Five Million Naira (N5,000,000.00) and that he should not call them but he should send a text message through the phone number below”.

“Upon receipt of the report, a team of police operatives led by SP Okala Ugbede swung into action and was able to trace the kidnappers on Monday and arrested one of the culprits, Elijah Anthony’m’ aged 17 years of the same address, who upon interrogation admitted and confessed to having conspired with one AKA Malic of no fixed address and kidnapped the victim from his father’s compound to an uncompleted building in the community where they kept him and tied his mouth with elastic dural cloth to stop him from shouting.

“He also confessed that after collecting the sum of Four Hundred Thousand Naira (N400,000.00) from the victim’s parents, his accomplice, the said Malic, who is now at large, strangled the victim while he held his hands and legs. Thereafter, they took the body and dumped it in a swampy place close to the uncompleted building”.

The Commissioner of Police said that based on the confession, a team of operatives visited the scene, the corpse was recovered, and it was taken to the Plateau State Hospital for confirmation and necessary action, after which it was released to the parents for burial.

According to him, the investigation is still ongoing with a view to arresting the fleeing suspect and any other accomplices.

The suspect, Anthony, who spoke with newsmen, said, “My name is Elisha Anthony. I am 17 years old, an SS 3 student, and I said that I committed the crime due to hardship and suffering.

“Quite okay, my parents are taking care of me, and when this crime was committed, my mother knew nothing about it. I even used her phone to do the transaction without her consent, demanding five million Naira as ransom.

“On the 13^th of this month, a boy was kidnapped; they are my closest neighbours. His elder brother was sent outside to buy something, so the five-year-old boy was behind, following them. I and my friend planned to carry him, and eventually, we succeeded in carrying him.

“We took the boy and hid him somewhere, and later in the evening, the family of the boy came and were looking for him. I pretended and joined them to look for the boy. We searched for the boy but couldn’t find him.

“The boy is hidden in an uncompleted building. Within that period, we demanded a ransom of N5 million. Then, five days later, we killed the boy. I killed the boy by strangulating him to death,” he confessed.

He added that he and his accomplice, Malik, strangled the boy to death after collecting the sum of four hundred thousand naira (N400,000.00) from the victim’s parents.

Meanwhile, the police commissioner revealed that, for the period under review, the command was able to arrest over 39 suspects.

He said the exhibits recovered include 7 locally made pistols, 11 locally fabricated rifles, and 23 pieces of ammunition. (Nigerian Tribune)

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