Army Reunites Abducted Boy With Family

Army

The 2 Division of the Nigerian Army, Odogbo, Ibadan, on Tuesday handed over a 16-year-old boy, Jamiu Memudu, to his family after he escaped from suspected ritualists.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Jamiu was abducted on Sept. 7 after boarding a bus heading for Ajegunle from Badagry where he had visited his uncle, Mr Murtala Jimoh.

Lt-.Col. Mustapha Ankar, the Assistant Director, Public Relations, 2 Division, told newsmen at the handing over that Jamiu was found wandering around Letmauck Cantonment, Mokola, Ibadan.

The army spokesman said the victim was taken into custody by some soldiers at the 81 Battalion following his claims that he was kidnapped in Lagos and that he did not know how he got to Ibadan.

Ankar, who noted that the victim escaped from his abductors and took refuge in the cantonment, further said:

“His uncle took him to the motor park in Badagry and put him in a white -coloured bus headed for Ajegunle.

“The bus took Jamiu and other unsuspecting passengers to an undisclosed location in Ibadan, Oyo state.”

Ankar, however, said that it was not established where the abductors took the passengers to in Ibadan as they were blindfolded throughout their ordeal.

He said the army had sent a team of investigators to Lagos to verify the authenticity of the victim’s claim.

Ankar urged the public to be at alert and sensitive to the machinations of unscrupulous elements in the society.

The victim’s mother, Sherifat Memudu, said she was grateful to God over the escape of her son, adding that the military authorities deserved commendation for returning him to his family. [NAN]