A 17-year-old student, Elijah Anthony, abducted and killed a 5-year-old boy named Dawon Pam from their neighborhood in Bukuru community, Jos South Local Government Area of Plateau State. Anthony admitted to committing the crime due to economic hardship. He feared that the victim, who had seen his face, would expose him if released.
Anthony and his friend planned and kidnapped the boy on October 13th, hiding him in an unfinished building. When the family realized the boy was missing, Anthony pretended not to know his whereabouts and even participated in the search. They demanded a ransom, and after five days, Anthony strangled the boy and buried him.
The state commissioner of police, Okoro Julius, disclosed that the suspect had received a ransom of N400,000 before killing the victim. The police were able to apprehend him by tracking the phone number used for the ransom negotiation.
Initially, the kidnappers had asked for N5 million, but they settled for N400,000. The suspect was paraded alongside 36 other individuals.