The 13-year-old boys were rescued by the operatives of Rapid Response Squad, RRS, of the Lagos State Police Command last Monday, after they alighted from an Abuja bus at Ojodu Berger, Lagos. The squad Commander, Assistant Commissioner Olatunji Disu, who confirmed the incident, said the teenagers were sighted by the officers wandering around Ojodu-Berger before they were invited for questioning. The children had initially lied to the officers that they were kidnapped and blindfolded before they were driven to Lagos by their abductors, from who they escaped. The officers later moved the boys to the RRS Headquarters, while investigations into their claims were launched. Their parents, who have been looking for the boys in Abuja since Sunday, May 14, were shocked when they were contacted and told their children were in the custody of RRS in Lagos. It took three days of questioning before the boys opened up, confessing that they left Abuja because of their parents’ poor conditions. According to one of them, “we noticed that our parents were suffering to take care of us. We decided to come to Lagos and work for some time. Whatever we are able to raise in six months, we will handover to our parents for them to start business. “We realised that the hardship was too much and that we would be helping them if we leave our families in Abuja in search of better opportunities in Lagos. The other said: “We combined my N4,200 savings with his (the other boy) N500 to transport ourselves to Lagos. We were already in Lagos before we realised that we were simply being stupid. “We were wandering about when the officer invited us for questioning.” The RRS Commander, who received the parents of the teenagers on their fifth day in custody, appealed to parents and guardians to monitor and take good care of their wards. The boys were re-united with their parents on Friday after they promised not to repeat such action.
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