The Ondo State Security Network Agency, commonly known as Amotekun, apprehended an unidentified scavenger on charges of allegedly kidnapping an eight-year-old girl in Akure, the state capital.
The accused reportedly used a charm to subdue the victim, placing her in a sack. However, the local residents managed to apprehend the suspect during an attempted escape.
Commenting on the incident on Friday, the Ondo State Amotekun Commander, Adetunji Adeleye, revealed that the perpetrator had disguised himself as a scavenger to carry out the heinous act.
The commander stated that once the investigation into the matter is concluded, the suspect will face charges in court.
Adeleye said, “The suspect pretended to be a scavenger picking rubbles, but luckily, the grandmother of the child heard the cry of the girl and when they looked round, they saw somebody stepping away with the child inside a sack.
“So, when they raised the alarm, he attacked them with different objects including a burning firewood he picked from a woman cooking nearby, but they were able to quickly alert Amotekun operatives and he was arrested.
“Upon interrogation, we discovered that he is actually a kidnapper and he confessed that he has been in the trade for a while. Investigation continues on his case before we would finally hand him over to the court.
“We would like to know his sponsors, those who are his bosses, what he does with the previous ones he had successfully taken away before his arrest today.
“Luckily, the victim child is mentally okay and the grandmother, despite the degree of the injury she sustained from the firewood attack, is equally responding to treatment from our health facility. ”
Speaking, the father of the victim, simply identified as James, said the cry of the victim attracted his mother who raised the alarm.
He said, “My little daughter who is eight years old came out, that she wants to use the toilet and I asked her to go to the backyard to do that.Her incessant cries attracted my mother’s attention who went to the backyard and confirmed that a man whom we mistook for a scavenger had kidnapped and hidden her inside a sac bag.
“It was my mother’s shout for help that made me went to check what was really going on and when I got there he had hit my mother with a heavy wood on her chest while she was struggling to rescue my child from him.
“The kidnapper continued to attack whoever attempts to rescue my child but I held on to him, preventing him from escaping. It was a bike man who saw the scene, that went to alert Amotekun Corps who swiftly arrived the scene and arrested the suspected kidnapper.”
The security agency also presented a lineup of at least 29 individuals apprehended for their participation in diverse criminal activities within the state on Monday.
In the previous month, Amotekun brought a 72-year-old, Mohammadu Basiru, before a state magistrate’s court on kidnapping charges.
Mohammadu, who worked as a security personnel on a farm in an Owo community, colluded with others, who are still at large, to abduct two individuals, including his employer.