Ogona Anita
An Ondo State Magistrate Court sitting in Akure, the Ondo State capital, has remanded a 16-year-old boy, Lekan Mustapha; and his guardian, Zulum Yisa, over alleged kidnapping.
The teenager told the court that they had kidnapped no fewer than nine children in the state and took the victims to one Islamic cleric in Ikorodu, Lagos State. They were arrested by men of the Ondo State Security Network Agency also known as Amotekun for allegedly involving in kidnapping in Oka-Akoko, the headquarters of Akoko North-West Local Government Area of the state last month.
They were later arraigned before the court on one count bordering on kidnapping.
On Wednesday, the state counsel, O.F Akeredolu, informed the court that the defendants were involved in kidnappings, adding that they had confessed to having kidnapped up to nine children. He said the offence contravened Sections 3(ii)b and 6 of the Ondo State Anti-Kidnapping and Anti-Abduction Law, 2010.
Mustapha told the court that he worked for Yisa, who is a member of the syndicate working for one Alfa in Ikorodu, stating that the Alfa gave Yisa a magical ring they used to hypnotize their victims.
He said, “l started living with Yisa after the death of my parents some years ago for survival, and we both came from Ilorin to this place. “Whenever we wanted to kidnap our victim, Yisa will give me biscuits to entice the children and lure them to him. He will then use the ring to beat them and they would become unconscious. We normally transfer them (the victims) to Alfa (in Ikorodu). We have kidnapped up to nine children.”
The prosecutor asked the court to remand the defendants at the Olokuta Correctional Centre pending advice from the Director of Public Prosecution.
In his ruling, the magistrate, Damilola Sekoni, ordered the remand of Yisa at the correctional center. He also ordered the teenager to be taken to the juvenile remand home pending DPP’s advice and adjourned the case till March 28, 2023, for mention.
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