5-Year-Old Child Hacked To Death, Buried In Shallow Grave After Father Fails To Pay Ransom

A 5-year-old child in Nigeria was allegedly hacked to death after being abducted by a 25-year-old man for ransom.

The incident took place in Bauchi, a city in northeast Nigeria. According to local media reports, the child was killed after he identified his abductor and his father failed to raise the money required for his release.

Following preliminary investigation, the police arrested the accused, identified as Anas Auwal, for murder charges. A spokesman for Bauchi Police Command told Vanguard NGR the accused had lured the unidentified victim into his room with sweets on Oct. 11.

Auwal then contacted the boy's father demanding a ransom for the release of the child. However, the child's father said the amount of ransom was too high and he would not be able to get the demanded sum.

"The suspect later came to realize that the victim knew him and that his identity would be revealed if he released him. Consequently, the suspect decided to hack the victim to death in his room and waited until nighttime, bundled the victim in a sack and buried the body in a shallow grave," police public relations officer, Bauchi State Command, Ahmed Wakil, told Punch NG.

"The suspect has confessed to the crime as the Commissioner of Police, CP Umar Mamman Sanda, directed that the suspect be charged to court for prosecution... In the same vein, the CP has advised parents and guardians to be vigilant and security-wise about the whereabouts of their children," he advised.

Earlier this week, a woman in Thailand smothered a 5-year-old child to death before trying to end her life by drinking a glass of toilet cleaner. The police found the child's body at the woman's residence. The woman was rushed to the hospital for medical attention. The motive behind the killing was not clear. The woman, identified as Thitirat Kongkerd, was reportedly a teacher working at a public school in Hat Yai city in southern Thailand. Local media reports said the child was autistic. The cops entered the 19th-floor apartment and found the unidentified child lying face-up and dead on the bed, with pillows and blankets, piled up on the floor. The current condition of the woman was also not known.