Benjamin Basil, a 17-year-old student of Plateau State Polytechnic, shares a harrowing account of being kidnapped and coerced into attempting to rob a bank in Jos, the Plateau State capital, with suspected bomb explosives.
Speaking from the Police Command headquarters in Jos, where he was paraded alongside other suspects, Basil reveals the chilling details of his abduction and the threats made by his captors.
Recalling the traumatic experience, Basil said,
“My name is Benjamin Basil. I’m an ND 1 student at Plateau State Polytechnic, studying Civil Engineering. I’m 17 years old and I reside opposite the Police Staff College in Jos. So, yesterday (May 13), I was on my way to school around 9 am and I was kidnapped along the way near the Police Staff College. They (the kidnappers) instructed me to raise my shirt. When I asked them why I should raise my shirt, one of them told me that they would shoot me dead if I didn’t cooperate with them.
“I raised my hands and after a while, they told me that what they just wrapped up my waist was a suicide bomb. They searched me and took my phone and money and after a while, they gave it back to me. Thereafter, they told me that they would take me to the bank, handed over two bags to me and instructed me to bring N100m.
“They said they would be waiting for me at the gate of the bank and that if I didn’t do it, they would just shoot me dead. At this point, I wrote it down and they took advantage of the situation and that I should inform the bank cashier that I was wrapped with a suicide bomb and that 12 of their men were waiting outside with AK 47 to confront anyone in case the cashier called for help.”
The state Commissioner of Police, Emmanuel Olugbenga, confirms that investigations are underway, acknowledging the cooperation of citizens in providing crucial information to law enforcement.
