Luck shines on a Lagos family, as their two-year-old son, Gift, who was kidnapped from school in Lagos, is found in Jos, the Plateau State capital. ACHOR ABIMAJE, reports.
Their hope of finding him had since fizzled. In short, Alhassan Allamaimagani, a native of Edo State but residing in Lagos, had since lost hope of his son, when it became clear to him that the toddler could not be located three months after he was kidnapped from school.
Gift Alhassan, two, and second child of the family, was whisked away from his school-Omis International Nursery and Primary School- by unknown persons, who are believed to have kidnapped the young boy for ritual purposes on November 15, 2011.? He was walking home from school with his four-year-old brother, when he was snatched by unknown persons. The parents literarily combed everywhere in Lagos in search of the boy but they did not find him. Police and other law-enforcement agents later joined the parents in the search but nothing positive came out of their concerted effort to locate the toddler.
After three months of fruitless search for the poor boy, the family was left with no option than to continue to gnash their teeth, weep and mourn the young boy, who is the pet of his parents.
With tears and sorrow taking over their daily routine and no hope of finding the boy, the family resigned their fate to prayers and a miracle. They began to pray more fervently than they had ever prayed in their lives.
The result did not take long in coming. It was like a joke but it was for real. The Nigerian Television Authority, NTA, began the news like one of those drama series on the air: “This boy, Gift Alhassan was today brought to our office by a Good Samaritan. He was kidnapped in Lagos in November but later found in Jos. The parents have been advised to contact the police for identification and collection.”
The father and mother of the child, who were glued to their TV set, did not believe what they heard and saw. Could this be their son or was someone trying to rein them in for more trouble? They began to think aloud. But just after the news item, someone close to the family called and told them that the boy had been found in Jos and that they should come for him.
In a jiffy, tears began to give way for joy and celebration. The parents could not wait any longer. They dashed straight to Jos the following day to see things for themselves.
Barrister Okechuku Ajaelu , a staff of the Appeal Court in Jos, had picked up little Gift from the ECWA Central Pharmacy near CBN Roundabout in Jos? around 7:30pm on the 20th November, 2011.
At the time the judiciary worker found the boy, he was clutching a toy and wandering alone in the town.? When asked how he came to Jos and who gave him the toy he was holding,? Gift only managed to mention his elder brother’s name-Michael- and did not say anything more.
But Ajaelu decided to take the risk by taking the boy home not minding the consequences of taking an unknown child to his home to pass the night with him and his family.
“Well, I had to take the risk by taking the boy home.? I did that principally to save his life since this kind of thing could happen to anyone in the society,” he said.
But he did not waste time in taking the boy to the Plateau State Police Command, which immediately took his details and later transferred him to the Isha Mana Orphanage Home along Zaria Road Jos.
It was there that the parents reunited with their son, whom they had not seen for three months.
Rather than jump for joy, the father and pregnant mother started weeping uncontrollably once they set eyes on their son.
“We are shedding tears of joy not sadness. We cannot just explain what would have happened to us if we had not found Gift,” the expectant mother said.
“We are eternally grateful to God for saving this boy for us,” his father stated.
But the search for the boy almost landed the parents in more agony. On their way to Jos to identify their son, himself and his pregnant wife were involved in an auto accident – but they were merely injured.
Reflecting on the disappearance of their son, Alhassan said it was not easy for the family throughout the period.
They could neither eat nor sleep. They had taken to praying for him day and night.
The kidnap of the boy did not go down well with the authorities of the Omis International Nursery and Primary School, as the police had to reprimand many of the staff who were on duty when the boy was taken away by unknown persons.
It is not clear why the kidnappers let the boy go without demand for ransom.
The hand of God may have saved his life from his captors.
Reacting to the incident, the Plateau State Women Affairs and Social Development Commissioner, Mrs. Olivia Dazyem, condemned the treatment meted out to the young boy and prayed God to punish his captors.
Dazyem called on parents not to be careless with their children as there are those she refers to as enemies of progress who are bent on committing crime and making parents suffer.