Man Exchanges 15yr Old boy For Two Bags Of Rice

A yet to be identified man on Monday
successfully traded a 15-year old boy,
Seun Aderinwale, for two bags of rice
valued at N20,000 at Igando in Alimosho
area of Lagos State, southwest Nigeria.
According to eyewitness account, the
man, whose address is unknown, went to
4, Ifesowapo Street, Igando, on Monday
morning to buy two bags of rice from a
shop owned by a woman identified as Iya
Ibrahim.
The rice seller was not available at the
time but her son, Ibrahim, agreed to the
man's proposal to drop Seun, an
Aluminium apprentice, as collateral, in
order to collect the two bags of rice and
return later to pay.
However, when the shop owner returned
in the afternoon, she was surprised to
see Seun who was dropped there in
exchange for the two bags of rice taken
away by the
unidentified man.
When the man failed to return, the 15-
year old was held hostage until evening
when the pastor of his church, a
Celestial Church of Christ around the
area, saw him at the
shop looking despondent.
When Seun was questioned on how he
came about the fraudster, he said he
met him casually at Hotel Bus Stop
about 300 metres to his residence where
a church member had sent him on an
errand to play lotto, popularly known as
"Baba Ijebu".
Seun said he did not know the man's
house or have other information about
him.
The teenager later regained his freedom
when the Celestial Church pastor, known
simply as Oluso in the neighborhood,
settled the matter with Iya Ibrahim, the
rice seller.
He said the woman should take
responsibility for one of the stolen bags
of rice while Seun's father, a co-worker
with him in the church, should pay for
the other bag of rice when he returned
from his trip to Ifo in Ogun State. Seun's
father agreed to pay N10,000 for the
bag of rice when he
returned from Ifo.
P.M.NEWS learnt that the rice seller
agreed to the pastor's proposal and did
not report the matter to the police.
"If I report the incident to the police, I
cannot leave the station without
spending money.
Therefore, it is better for me to accept
the proposal by Oluso, the rice
seller told residents who gathered in
front of her shop to watch the drama.
When Ibrahim was questioned why he
allowed such an unusual arrangement,
he told residents that the conman asked
for two and half bags of rice, adding,
"when the motorcycle was about to go
with the
two bags, I asked for the money but
Seun assured me he was coming back
for the half bag.
He even claimed to be a close
relation of the man." However, some
hours after the man had disappeared
and failed to return, Ibrahim said Seun
retracted his earlier statement,
saying he did not know the man.