CRIME

SHOCKING INCIDENT: 13-Year-Old Boy Arrested for Threatening Classmates with Father's Gun in Akwa Ibom

By Julius Nsikak, Uyo

DSP Timfon, Addressing Journalists at a Press Briefing 

A disturbing incident has unfolded in Akwa Ibom, where a 13-year-old boy, Samuel Sunday, was arrested by the police for using his father's gun to threaten his classmates at St. Paul Primary School, Ikot Ibiok, in Eket Local Government Area. 

The police also apprehended the boy's father, who owns the gun and had kept it in his wardrobe before the son took it to school.

According to the state Public Relations Officer, DSP Timfon John, the 13-year-old suspect had taken the gun from his father's wardrobe on November 24, 2024, and was arrested on January 30, 2025. 

The police acted on intelligence and recovered the locally made pistol, which the suspect had been carrying since November 2024. 

"On 30/01/2025 at about 0800 hrs based on credible information at the Command’s disposal, that on 28/01/2025 One Samuel Sunday "m" of Ikot Ibiok village in Eket LGA, a 13 year old pupil of St. Paul primary school Ikot Ibiok in Eket LGA was going armed in the school and threatening to fire at his fellow pupils. 

The operatives of the Command immediately swung into action and arrested the suspect and recovered a locally made pistol", she added.

The suspect confessed to obtaining the gun from his father's bedroom wardrobe, leading to the father's subsequent arrest. The investigation is ongoing.

In a separate incident, the police paraded two women, Roseline Maurice and Eno Udoka, for conspiring and stealing a child in Obong Itam village, Itu LGA, in June 2024. 

The suspects sold the victim for ₦200,000 Naira only, to a receiver in Cross River State and used the money to purchase a refrigerator, television, and fan, among other items. All the items have been recovered from them.

Furthermore, the police have cracked down on child trafficking syndicates that lure young girls into having affairs with men, resulting in pregnancy, and then sell the babies. 

In one such case, two 18-year-old girls reported that a woman attempted to traffic them to Cross River State for the purpose of getting them pregnant and selling the babies. The police arrested Gift Essien Tommy and Peace Ekanem in connection with the incident.