10-year-old Boy Kidnapped from Church in Abuja

Chibuike Ogbusu, 10,  attended the Boys Brigade rehearsal in  St. Bartholomew Cathedral Church, Kubwa, Abuja with  his three friends on Saturday. On their way home when he was kidnapped by unknown persons.

Dr. Peter Ogbusu, Chibuike’s father, said  “After the Boys’ Brigade practice, Chibuike’s friends told him they wanted to drink water at a borehole in front of the church, but he told them he was not thirsty. So the others went to drink while he waited for them. When the three boys got to where they left Chibuike, they did not see him and they left for their homes, thinking he had gone home. They did not know that he had been abducted.”

The family reached out to Chibuike's friends at 7.30pm when they did not see him. They expressed surprise that he had not reached home since he left the church around 6.30pm.

“We went to the church and searched for him everywhere, but saw no sign of him. The next day being Sunday, it was announced in church that our son was missing. We also went to hospitals, but we didn’t see him. The police are currently investigating his disappearance.”

He added that the family had, however, been receiving calls from unknown persons asking for N10m, while others advised him to visit a prophet who would assist him to locate his missing son.

Altienne Daniel, the FCT Police Public Relations Officer, said the incident was being treated as a missing person case. “I have just spoken with the DPO, Kubwa, and he confirmed that the case is being investigated; the boy is only missing, he was not kidnapped,” she said.