A Lagos High Court sitting in Ikeja, has been told how alleged kidnappers collected ransom from relatives of abducted nine-year- old boy at Ojuelegba, area of the state.

Testifying before Justice Adenike Coker at the ongoing trial of three suspects, the prosecution witness, Mohammed Buhari said he was called by the abductors to drop the ransom for them along Ojuelegba road.

The suspects; Lima Auwal, Abdullah Usman and Seidu Abbas were alleged to have kidnapped the boy at about 7:30 p.m. at Ajayi Street, Idi-Araba in the Mushin area of Lagos State on November 4, 2022.

They were arraigned on a two-count charge of conspiracy to kidnap and kidnapping. Their offences contravened the provision of section 2(1) of the Kidnapping Prohibition Law, No 10 of Laws of Lagos State 2017.

However, at the resumed hearing, the witness gave a vivid account of how he followed the kidnappers’ instructions to drop the ransom inside a vulcanizer tyre placed by the roadside towards Ojuelegba.

Led-in-evidence by the prosecution counsel, Ms Titi Adeyegbe, the witness recounted that after he closed from work with his boss, the father of the kidnapped boy, Mr Aliu Abubakar, drove him home.

According to him, when they reached home, they didn’t meet Abubakar’s wife and his boss’ brother, Ibrahim. He said they were told that they went looking for the boy, since he did not return from school. He said he joined Ibrahim in search of the boy, adding that they had to sleep on the street till the following morning.

“I and Ibrahim went to the second street searching. We were on the street over the night, the boy was nowhere to be found. My boss (Abubakar) went to report to the police. On the second day, in the morning, I got a text message and I went to show my boss, Abubakar.

“The message was that, ‘your son is with us, we need $3000 and N200,000. I later got a call and the voice said, ‘oga na we carry your son’ . I asked if I could speak to the boy. He gave the phone to the boy and I asked how he is? He responded fine.

“So, they didn’t call me again till Sunday morning. Then, they told me that they will let me know where to get the boy when I am ready. They also asked me how much I had out of the ransom. I said N200,000, they said that it was too small. I begged them that there is no money before they later said I must make it N700,000.

“The kidnappers spoke to me in Hausa language. I told them that we are all Hausa, that we could only afford N400,000. So, they said I would be informed where to get the boy and that I should follow their instructions.

“When I got the money, I put it inside a black nylon. I got their call at about 7:00p.m., stressing that if I am with Police officers that they will not call again.

“It was at about 10:00 p.m. that they asked if I was ready to bring the money. I said yes and moved to Iyana bus stop, Mushin on their instruction.

“One of them asked if I am with the Police again, I said no. He said he had seen me and described the cloth I was wearing. I was told to go to the front of Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH). He later told me to move towards Ojuelegba road. He asked if I had seen a tyre placed by the roadside by a Vulcanizer. He told me to put the money inside and go, that the boy will be released,” he testified.

Buhari said afterwards, he looked around, but didn’t see the boy. According to him, he later passed out owing to the trauma without knowing what happened to him, only to wake up in front of his house with a crowd of people surrounding him. The police, he said, later invited him to the station.

The witness said he remembered that the second defendant (Usman) visited Abubakar’s house, second day after the abduction and asked him to show him (Usman) the phone number the kidnappers were using to call him, but he refused.

When he was cross-examined by the defendant’s counsel, Ms Rukayat Owolabi, the witness insisted that the phone number used in calling him began with 08024 that he couldn’t remember the total number. He insisted that he is a witness of truth. He also denied being arrested with the defendants, stressing that he has been working with the victim’s father for five years.

The witness further said he only knew the money was N400,000 that he didn’t check it. He also confirmed that he used to see the third defendant in his boss’ house, but was never involved in any criminal act.

After hearing from the witness, Justice Coker adjourned further hearing to May 8, 2024. He ordered that all parties involved should maintain peace in their community.

The order followed an allegation by the second defendant’s lawyer that there had been mayhem in the area. The prosecution counsel also told the court that the nominal complainant had to petition the police over incessant attack on him in the community.

Recall that at the last adjourned date, the victim’s father had recounted the ordeal his son went through. He said his life has not been normal since then as he was traumatised when he returned from the kidnappers’ den and could not speak well.