How Boy, 12, Abducted In Kano State Was Found In Lagos State

CYRIACUS IZUEKWE

A 12-year old boy, Master Auwal Tijani, from Hotoro Village, Nassarawa Local Government Area of Kano State, recently abducted while he was playing, has been found and rescued in Lagos State through the efforts of the Legal Aids Council of Nigeria.

P.M.EXPRESS reports Master Tijani at the  weekend was handed over to his mother, Mrs. Sadiya Ahmed, who came all the way from Kano State to Ojo Police Station in Lagos after they were contacted by the officers of Legal Aids Council of Nigeria led by Barrister Mariam Njoku.

The little boy got missing two months in their village in Kano State until last week, the South West Zonal Director of the Legal Aids Council of Nigeria got a call from the North West Zonal Director of Legal Aids Council that a 12-year old boy, who has been missing in Kano State, was found in Lagos State at Alaba Rago area of the State and  taken to Ojo Police Station.

The photographs of the father, mother and the boy were forwarded and the Zonal Director for the Western Zone, who assigned the matter to Barr. Marian C. Njoku of Legal Aids Council Lagos for immediate action.

Then on 15th August, 2023, Barr. Marian C. Njoku visited the Ojo Police Station where she met with the DPO, who told her that the boy was seen roaming aimlessly at Alaba Rago area by some Hausa men, who then took the boy to their Mosque.

“The leader of the Mosque then brought the boy to Ojo Police Station. The Police asked the boy some details and he told the Police that his name is Auwal Tijani, from Hotoro Village, in Nassarawa Local Government of Kano State. He gave the name of his mother as Sadiya Ahmed. The DPO said immediately he put a call across to someone in Kano State and detailed the person to go to the boy’s village and ask for the boy’s mother, which the person did and saw the boy’s mother. She confirmed that she has been looking for her child and was happy to learn that her son has been found.

The DPO then asked the person to go to the nearest Police Station with the boy’s mother to report that the boy has been found and is healthy in Lagos.

The  DPO further allowed the head of the Mosque to take the boy in order to take care of him since there was no comfortable place at the Police Station to keep the boy.

However, Barr. Njoku went to the station and showed the DPO the photographs of the boy’s parents with the boy, and demanded to see the boy. The DPO then called the head of the Mosque and asked him to bring the boy that the Government lawyer has come to see him. Thus, the head of the Mosque then directed Barr. Marian C. Njoku to the mosque and she went there to see the boy.  The photographs were shown to the boy and he identified them as his parents.

Barr. Njoku, through the aid of the head of the Mosque who interpreted to her, asked the boy how he found himself in Lagos. The boy said he was in his village playing with his friends when a man came out of a car and lured him into the car, promising him gifts, money and sweets. When he got into the car, he saw three other boys and that was all he could remember. The next thing was that he found himself in Lagos near the expressway.

Barr. Marian C. Njoku later got a call on the 25th of August, 2023, from the boy’s uncle that he and the boy’s mother were on their way to Lagos and on 26th August, 2023, they met Barr. Njoku at Alakija Bus Stop and further proceeded to Ojo Police Station.

At the Police Station, they met with the DPO, who after seeing the mother of the boy and asking her questions in Hausa language, put a call across to the head of the Mosque and the boy was brought to the station. And on sighting his mother, the boy and his mother broke down in tears as they hugged each other and the boy was then officially handed to his mother.