17-year-old student in Police Custody for alleged kidnap, killing his neighbor’s son

Elijah Anthony, a 17-year-old student in Plateau State, was detained by State Police Command agents on Thursday for allegedly killing his neighbor’s five-year-old child after demanding N400,000 in ransom from the victim’s parents. Anthony attends Manret High School in the Angul D community of the Jos South Local Government Area of Plateau State.

On Thursday, 39 other suspects were displayed for different crimes at the police command’s headquarters in Jos. Anthony admitted to killing the neighbor, Dawom Pam, saying,

“They sent his (victim’s) elder brother to buy something and the little boy was behind him. So, I and my friend carried the boy and hidden him somewhere in an unfinished building.”

 “Later, the parents of the boy came looking for him and I also pretended and joined them in the search for their missing child but I did not take them to where the boy was hidden.

“Later we demanded N5 million, but we were able to get N400,000. But five days later, the boy was killed. I was the one that killed him because I fear he might tell his parents that I was the one that kidnapped him if we had released him”.

The suspect, who expressed regrets over the incident, blamed his action on the hardship going on in the country

He said, “I was in my house when the police came and arrested me. It is the hardship that drove me into kidnapping and killing. I was supposed to write WAEC this year but I didn’t. Please, forgive me.”

The five-year-old boy’s body was found in a marsh close to the incomplete building where he was left by the accused, and it was given to his parents for burial, according to State Commissioner of Police Okoro Julius Alawari, who also paraded 39 other suspects.

He indicated that after the investigations were over, all 39 suspects would face legal action.