Plateau Police Arrest 17-Year-Old Student For Kidnap, Killing Of Five-Year-Old Child
Elijah Anthony, a 17-year-old student in Plateau State, has been detained by men of the State Police Command for reportedly murdering his neighbor’s five-year-old kid after receiving N400,000 in ransom from the victim’s parents.
Anthony, a Senior Secondary student at Manret High School in the Angul D village of Plateau State‘s Jos South Local Government Area, was among 39 other suspects paraded before the police command’s headquarters in Jos on Thursday.
While responding to questions from journalists, Anthony, who confessed to killing the five-year-old neighbour identified as Dawom Pam, said, “They sent his (victim’s) elder brother to buy something and the little boy was behind him. So, my friend and I carried the boy and hid him somewhere in an uncompleted building.
“Later, the parents of the boy came looking for him and I also pretended and joined them in the search for their missing child but I did not take them to where the boy was hidden.
“Later we demanded N5 million, but we were able to get N400,000. But five days later, the boy was killed. I was the one that killed him because I fear he might tell his parents that I was the one that kidnapped him if we had released him”.
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The suspect, who expressed sorrow for the event, blamed his actions on the country’s economic suffering.He said, “I was in my house when the police came and arrested me. It is the hardship that drove me into kidnapping and killing. I was supposed to write WAEC this year but I didn’t. Please, forgive me.”
Okoro Julius Alawari, the State Commissioner of Police who paraded Anthony and 39 other suspects, revealed that the five-year-old child’s corpse had been found from a marshy area near the unfinished structure where he was abandoned by the accused and given over to his parents for burial.
He stated that when the investigations were completed, all 39 suspects will be prosecuted.
