Operatives of the Intelligence Response Team, IRT, Sunday arrested a Mobile Technician who abducted a nine-year-old pupil in a private primary school in the New Nyanya area of Nasarawa State, two weeks ago.
The suspect, Teleheem Kamaldeen, was nabbed three days after he collected N1.5 million ransom for the pupil’s release.
According to him: ” I have been monitoring him for two months, waiting for the right opportunity to abduct him. His parents live in the same area as me- New Nyanya. He was always driven in his parents’ car, to and from school.
” I decided to abduct him on their vacation day because parents usually went to pick their children earlier than the usual closing hour that day.
When I got to the school I discovered that access to the premises wasn’t as difficult as I envisaged. People were going in and out freely while the pupils were playing.
” I walked around until I sighted him among his peers. I told him his mother had paid me to teach him how to operate a computer. He was very happy. He followed me without hesitation. I told his teacher that I was his computer instructor and that I came to pick him for his class.
” I took him to a hotel, put on my laptop and started teaching him how to operate the computer. He was glued to the computer until the battery drained out. By then, it was late and I told him we would continue the next day and that his parents were aware he was with me.
” I put a call to his parents to inform them I had kidnapped their son. I demanded N4 million for his release. I later agreed to collect N1.5 million after much negotiation and plea from his parents. I instructed them to drop the ransom in a bush part close to Abuja. When they did, I released their son to them”, he said.
When asked why he ventured into kidnapping, the Oyo State-born suspect responded, ” As a phone repairer, people brought their phones for repairs. Sometimes, some of them would request to swap their repaired phones with new ones. All they need to do is to add some money to get a new phone.
Unfortunately, I didn’t have money to buy new phones. I intended to use the ransom to buy new phones to sell and swap with customers repaired phones_
The Force Public Relations Officer, CP Frank Mba, who described the offence as non-violent but criminal, advised owners of schools to put measures on the ground that would check those who bring and take children from schools.
Failure to put the necessary mechanism in place to address a reoccurrence in any school, Mba said the Police would be left with no option but to arrest and prosecute owners of schools alongside suspects.