Some unidentified gunmen, suspected to be cultists, gouged out the eyes of a seven-year-old boy, Monday Ajeh, during an invasion of Agaza village in the Keana Local Government Area ofNasarawa State.
Narrating his son’s predicament on Tuesday, the 47-year-old father of the victim, Mr Agadi Ajeh, said he was sleeping at home with members of his family when he heard his son screaming for help.
According to him, he discovered that Monday had been abducted and taken away by his assailants around 1.00am on Thursday.
He added that a search party was immediately raised to look for the boy, who was subsequently found in a pool of blood with his eyes missing from their sockets.
Agadi added that the kidnappers had blindfolded the victim, tied his two legs and hands and removed his eyes, leaving him lifeless on the ground.
The shocked father said, “Who could have done this to my son at that time of the night? They kidnapped him from my residence, while I was sleeping, and took him about two kilometres away from the village.”
On sighting the attackers, Agadi explained that his son shouted for help, but he was abducted by the suspected cultists.
Confirming the incident in an interview in Lafia, the Nasarawa State Police Command’s Public Relations Officer, ASP Samaila Usman, said the victim had earlier reported to his parents that some people threatened to kidnap and remove his eyes, but the parents ignored the complaint.
Usman said the command had already deployed its men in the scene of the incident to ensure that those behind the heinous act were arrested and prosecuted.
Usman stated, “The parents ignored the complaint by their son; they did not show any concern or report the matter to the police on time. And some weeks later, while on their farm, some unknown persons kidnapped their son and took him away to a distance of about two kilometres before they removed his two eyes and left the body.
“It was the following day that the parents reported the matter to the police station in Keana Local Government Area of the state.”
The police spokesperson added that Ajeh was being treated at the Dalhatu Araf Specialist Hospital, Lafia.