Man abducts, exchanges 10-yr-old boy for 3 bags of rice

LAGOS— An unidentified middleaged man
abducted a 10-year-old boy, who was on an
errand for his mother, and exchanged him for
three bags of rice in Ijegun area of Lagos.
The suspect, now on the run, reportedly
accosted the victim (names withheld), weekend,
at Prince Bus Stop, Isheri Oshun, while on the
errand for his mother.
He was said to have introduced himself to the
unsuspecting boy as a relative.
In an apparent move to convince the boy, the
stranger, followed him to the shop where he was
sent to buy a bottle of groundnut oil and
thereafter, took him to a shop where he
collected three bags of rice.
He convinced the salesgirl, identified simply as
Deborah, that he was going to get the money,
while his brother remained with her.
However, that was not to be as the salesgirl
waited endlessly without seeing the stranger or
the money for the bags of rice, which totalled
N48,000.
The transaction
Speaking with Vanguard, the salesgirl said: “
When the man came to the shop with the boy,
he asked how much was a bag of rice. I told
him it was N16,000 and he left with the boy,
saying he was going to tell the woman that sent
them.
“Moments later, he came back and said that he
needed two bags. Again, he called the purported
person that sent them on phone and suggested
that they should add one more bag.
“After the call, he told me to help him get a
tricycle that would convey the three bags of rice
to Fire Junction, where he claimed the owner
was. He said the boy will remain with me while
he went to get the money.
“After waiting for close to one hour without
seeing him, I told the boy to take me to his
mum’s shop at the said Fire Junction.
“But he said that his mother did not own a shop
there and that the stranger only met him on the
road and brought him to the shop.
“It was at that point that I knew I had been
robbed. I alerted my neighbour, who said that
the stranger must have used the boy as
exchange for the bags of rice.”
Meanwhile, apprehension had set in at the boy’s
house after his disturbed mother visited the
shop, only to be informed that his son had left
with a stranger.
While a search party was combing the vicinity
for the boy, the owner of the shop and the
salesgirl, were sighted taking him to the Isheri-
Oshun Police Division.
During interrogation, the boy told his parents:
“After returning from the shop, the stranger
asked if I knew where they sell bags of rice. I
told him they were selling close to our house.
“But he said he did not want to buy there that I
should follow him to buy elsewhere.
“I followed him because he introduced himself
as my cousin. He collected the money I had
with me to pay for the fare and told me to wait
at the shop, that he would come and take me
back home after dropping the bags of rice.”
The Police, however, released him to his parents
same day with a directive to report back to the
station yesterday, where a meeting between the
boy’s parents and owner of the shop who
insisted on getting the money for the bags of
rice.