Was little Destiny kidnapped by members of the local vigilance group paid to keep watch over him and other members of the community? That is the riddle the police in Delta State are attempting to unravel.
Three-year-old Destiny was kidnapped by some masked men and their female accomplices on Monday, July 15. The toddler was released after spending 72 hours in the forest with his abductors.
Mr. Lucky Osanebi and his wife, Doris, own the biggest Supermarket in Kwale, the administrative headquarters of Ndokwa West Local Government Area of Delta State. The couple, already blessed with two children, lives in Ashaka in the neighbouring Ndokwa East locality.
Their first child, Destiny, is three years old and the young lad has already had the traumatic experience of being kept in unlawful custody for over 72 hours by men of the underworld, suspected to be kidnappers. Brimming with innocence, little Destiny was virtually snatched from the bosom of his parents on Monday, July 15, at about 9.30pm at the family’s residence.
On the fateful day, Destiny’s mother, Doris, had driven the family’s Honda CRV SUV from their shop in Kwale and had parked at the compound. Her husband, Lucky, who is contract staff with Agip Oil had already opened the entrance door. Doris, as it were, brought out her bag and took it along with the kids to the corridor.
She then turned back to lock up the car. But unknown to her, some evil men had lumbered into the compound. Before she could walk up to the car, she felt the cold nozzle of a gun pointed at the back of her head and all she could hear was a masculine voice, ordering her to lie down.
Confused as she was, Doris summoned courage to hit her unseen attacker. “I was shivering but I used my left leg to hit the man and I ran into the car because it was open and I locked the car from inside. The man was telling me to open the door while his two colleagues went inside the house to meet with my husband. I heard them, telling my husband to cooperate with them or else they would kill him the way they killed his brother, Emmanuel. I also heard my baby, telling them to take the money and leave his daddy alone but they hit the little boy’s head with a gun.
“While in the car, I brought out my anointed water and started praying that God should set confusion among them and let them expose their faces. I sprinkled the water on the face of the masked man, who was standing by the door of the car and he removed his mask and started scratching his face, using the side mirror of the car,” the 25-year-old mother narrated.
Meanwhile, the other members of the gang had ransacked the house, removing cash of about N300,000, gold and jewelleries. But not done with the loot, they seized Destiny, brought him out and pointed a gun at his head as well as placed a knife at his throat at the same time. “They said they needed me and that I should come from the car or else they would kill my son.
But I said if it was the will of God that the boy should be killed; they should go ahead because I was not coming out of the car. “Seeing that I was not ready to come out, they went behind and handed my baby to two masked ladies, who ran into the bush with him. The three men also fled from the scene,” Mrs. Osanebi further narrated.
Following the brazen abduction, the search for little Destiny began immediately. His parents drove to the office of the local vigilance group but the place was locked. They headed for the divisional police station where they made a formal report about the kidnap of their son by the gang in mask.
For three days, Master Destiny Osanebi was held hostage in the most unfriendly environment infested with insects. While his hostage lasted, the hoodlums made contacts with his father to demand for a princely ransom of N10 million for the lad to breathe the sweet air of freedom again.
“My son spent three days with them and they were discussing with my husband, demanding for N10 million but my husband told them that he had no money and that the money they had earlier collected was enough. He told them to release the boy peacefully.
“They threatened to kill him and use him for rituals but again we did not cave in. My husband told them that if it was the will of God for him to be killed, they should go ahead. He reminded them that the cupboard where they collected over N300,000, there was an anointed water there, which he used to bath Destiny earlier in the day and that the anointing of the child would torment them until he was returned unconditionally,” she told Daily Sun.
According to her, she intensified prayers for the release of her son and in the early hours of July 18, the infant was seen on the grassland by a farmer, who had gone out early in the morning for his hunting expedition.
Meanwhile, three male suspects, including Goddey Ogun (45), Obiose Cornelius (35) and Ijeoma Uzor (35) said to be chairman, vice chairman and member of the Ashaka Vigilance Group have been arrested by the police for their alleged involvement in the kidnap saga.
The suspects, who are now cooling their heels at the headquarters of the state police command in Asaba, risk having a date with the hangman if convicted of the crime, going by the new law, which prescribes death penalty for kidnapping. Parading the suspects, Public Relations Officer of the state police command, Lucky Uyabeme, an Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP), claimed that when the police arrested the suspects, they turned the heat on them and as a result, the little boy was freed unhurt by the kidnappers.
The spokesman, who told journalists that the Ashaka Vigilance Group had been outlawed, said items recovered from them were two single-barreled guns and that they would soon be arraigned, adding that the police are on the trail of some of the gang members, who escaped. Although parents of the victim identified the suspects, chairman of the proscribed local security outfit, Ogun, denied involvement in the saga. He insisted that they were helping to keep the peace in the area.
“We are vigilance members in Ashaka. We do not know anything about kidnapping. How can we kidnap? They are blackmailing us,” he shouted, as they were being led back to the cell by the police.
[Sun]