A man, Desmond Okoroafor, has been picked up by the police in Aboru in the Ipaja area of Lagos, for allegedly kidnapping his neighbour’s eight-year-old son, Daniel Chukwudi.
The man was picked up with one Egwuonwu Iyke, whom he reportedly connived with to abduct the boy and hold him captive.
Okoroafor, 21, contacted the victim’s family from their hideout in the Ajangbadi area of the state, asking for a ransom of N2.5m ransom.
The spokesperson of the Lagos police command, CSP Adekunle Ajisebutu, disclosed this in a press release.
He said the operatives of the State Intelligence Bureau went after the suspects after the victim’s parents reported the abduction, which occurred on July 11, 2021.
He said Okoroafor exploited his unhindered access to the family to lure the victim from home to Ajangbadi, where he put him (the boy) in captivity for six days before he was rescued.
“The Lagos State Police Command has arrested two male suspects, Desmond Ikechukwu Okoroafor (21) and Egwuonwu Gift Iyke (34), who conspired and kidnapped an eight-year-old child, Daniel Chukwudi, on 11th July, 2021. The kidnap was planned and executed by the victim’s neighbour, Desmond Okechukwu Okoroafor.
“Twenty-four hours after the evil act, the suspects reached out to the victim’s parents and demanded N2.5m ransom as a condition for his release from captivity or else he would be killed.
“Following a report by the distraught parents, operatives of the State Intelligence Bureau began a painstaking, diligent investigation, which led to the arrest of the two suspects in their criminal hideout, while the victim was also rescued from his detention where he was kept incommunicado.”
The PPRO said the Commissioner of Police, Hakeem Odumosu, had directed that the suspects be charged to court.
