A driver to a Port Harcourt-based lawyer identified as Jerry Igiri has been arrested by operatives of the Rivers State Police Command for kidnapping his employer’s four-year-old son, Goodnews.
Jerry (as he is normally called) had surprisingly joined a search party that tried without success for 17 days to locate the boy he handed over to his kidnap gang.
Goodnews was taken away inside their house while her mother was trying to prepare his lunch after he arrived from school.
Unknown to the victim’s mother, Jerry, the driver, had handed the four-year-old boy to a lady, who is a member of the kidnap gang.
While Jerry, who had been working for Mrs. Tenelor for about four years, pretended to be sleeping in his employer’s car, Mrs. Tenelor searched for her child around the compound to no avail.
The worried mother later called the attention of the deceptive driver to the missing boy and both of them went outside to tell neighbours about the incident.
Terrified by the development, Mrs. Tenelor reported the matter to the police while they continued with the search with the driver, who had secretly been communicating with the kidnap gang on how they would share the ransom from her employer.
“We got a call from the kidnappers. I did not pick the first call that came in because I did not know who called. They told my sister who picked the first call to give it to the owner of the phone. Then it dawned on us that it must be the kidnappers.
“Later, they called back to say my son was with them, that I should get N20m ready, that they would call back in 48 hours. I alerted the police of the development.”
But the police, who suspected the driver asked the woman (Mrs. Tenelor) to come with Jerry, who was later detained.
The driver later confessed to the woman that he arranged the kidnap of her son, blaming his action on the work of the devil.
With the help of the police, Jerry was able to ensure that the four-year-old boy was released without ransom.
Speaking with newsmen, Jerry said, “I agreed with the kidnappers that if she (Mrs. Tenelor) paid the ransom, I would use my money to take care of myself.
“They told me my madam negotiated for N200,000 and I told them to accept it because I was already in a fix. Returning the boy was a problem to me and collecting the money was another problem.
“But my madam did not pay the money. If they had collected N20m, I would have had N7m. The boy knew I was the one that did it. I was very close to the boy I kidnapped. He calls me Jerry.
“We arranged the kidnap for three days, but we kept him for 17 days. I gave the kidnappers N15,000, which was the salary madam gave me to feed the boy. I have been working for my madam for four years now. I would have relocated to the village if she had paid the N20m ransom.”
But Mrs. Tenelor, who expressed gratitude to God for the release of her son, narrated the trauma she went through before her child was released by the kidnappers.
She also thanked the police for working round the clock to make sure that her son was released.
“This thing started April 19. At about 3:15pm, I discovered that my son was not in the premises. He had returned from school about 2:30pm. And the school is just close to my house. He was playing with his bike while I was in the kitchen. I was still hearing the wheel of the bike in the compound about 15 minutes earlier.
“I came out when I was not hearing the wheel of the bike. I called the driver on phone, he did not answer and I did again. I had to put off the gas and came out. I saw the driver in the car. My concern was the boy; I was calling him ‘Goody come out where are you hiding?’
“Later I came to the driver to ask for Goody and he said he was riding his bike. He checked the car for him, even up to the boot. I started shouting, calling neighbours. Teachers from the school came around to help in the search.
“I later told my driver to take me to the police to incident the situation. Two days later, we took the signal from Woji Police Station to the police headquarters. My church, community and everyone; we were praying for the release of my son,” she added.
On how she came to know that her driver was the mastermind of the abduction of her son, Mr. Tenelor said, “I asked that they bring Jerry again. This time, a spirit came over me and I started talking to him.
“I saw deliverance taking place. And suddenly, he confessed that he arranged the kidnap of the child. He said ‘mummy I was the one that took Goody’. He said I should promise him that I would not tell the police he did it. He said I should also promise him that he would keep his job with me.”
Mrs. Tenelor pointed out that her driver took her son out of the compound before giving him N50 to buy juice.
The State Police Public Relations Officer, Mr. Ahmad Muhammad said investigation was ongoing with a view to apprehending other members of the gang.
Muhammad explained that Jerry would soon be charged to court for masterminding the abduction of the four-year-old boy.
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