A student, Benjamin Basil, who was strapped with what was suspected to be a bomb to rob a bank in Plateau State, has spoken on the events that led to it.
According to a report by The PUNCH, the teenage student spoke in an exclusive interview at the headquarters of the Plateau State Police Command in Jos.
Basi, a student of the Plateau State Polytechnic, 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 9am 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 N100 million.
“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.
“When I met the cashier inside the bank, he agreed that he wouldn’t call for help.
“But suddenly, I noticed that everybody in the bank started running and I was scared as I thought that the kidnappers outside had started coming inside the bank.
“So, I ran outside and the bank security officials dragged me down.”
The Commissioner, Plateau State Police Command, CP Emmanuel Olugbenga, paraded Basil alongside other suspects.
Olugbenga said what was wrapped on him was discovered not to be bomb explosives.
He said: “The case is currently under investigation at the state CID to ascertain the validity of his claims and arrest possible suspects.”
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