WICKEDNESS: Man Kidnaps, Drugs Church Member’s 10-year- Old Son

The Lagos State Police Command has arrested a 25-year-old suspect, Triumph Okechukwu, for allegedly abducting a 10-year-old boy, Chukwudalu Nnaji, in the Orile area of the state.

It was learnt that a tricycle rider, Chinonso Obinna, was also apprehended as an accomplice to the crime.

It was learnt that Okechukwu and the victim’s mother attended the same church and lived in the same neighbourhood.

Okechukwu and Obinna were alleged to have lodged in the Sunderland Hotel Annex, a hotel in the area, to perfect the crime.

They were said to have left the hotel on Thursday, waylaid and abducted the victim on his way to school.

Our correspondent was told that the two men took Nnaji into the hotel room, where they forced a substance suspected to be sleeping drug down his throat.

It was gathered that the 10-year-old resisted the men and the sound of the struggle aroused the suspicion of other people in the hotel.

The suspects were said to have been beaten up before they were handed over to policemen from the Orile division.

A source said the police were alerted to the incident around 10am.

He said, “The prime suspect, Okechukwu, connived with the tricycle operator, Obinna, to take the boy to the hotel, where they had already secured a room.

“He promised to settle Obinna after he had been able to get ransom from the boy’s parents. The boy was on his way to school when they picked him on the road as if they were assisting him.

“Together, they took him to the hotel. They planned to keep him in their room until the parents paid a ransom. However, the boy struggled and called for help, which attracted the attention of people in the hotel.”

When our correspondent approached the manager of the hotel, which is on Coker Street, Orile, he denied that the incident happened on the premises.

A resident, however, told our correspondent that the incident generated confusion in the area.

“The two men were apprehended and seriously beaten up until the police came to rescue them,” the resident, who did not identify himself, said.

Our correspondent learnt that the suspects had been transferred to the State Criminal Investigation and Intelligence Department, Yaba.

 A source said the prime suspect confessed to the crime in his statement to the police, adding that he said he planned to collect ransom from the boy’s parents.

He said, “Investigations showed that the main suspect and the boy’s parents attended the same church. Okechukwu said he studied all the members of the church to know those who were wealthy and he decided to go for the boy. He said he only wanted to make money.”

The Police Public Relations Officer, SP Dolapo Badmos, confirmed the incident, adding that investigations were ongoing.

She said, “We gathered that both suspects, who were lodgers at the Sunderland Hotel Annex, Orile, allegedly accosted Nnaji on his way to school. They lured him to their hotel room, where they administered some substance suspected to be sleeping drug on him. However, the victim was rescued by the hotel workers, while the suspects were handed over to the police.”

Badmos said the victim had been taken to a hospital for treatment.