- He suffers loss of speech, memory, only mentioned number 18-Witness
Authorities of the Christ Apostolic Church, Ikosi Ketu, Lagos, were taken by surprise last weekend, when they received an unexpected ‘visitor,’ a 10-year-old boy, who strayed into the premises of the church in an unconscious state.
The boy, simply identified as David, found his way into the church after he had lost his bearing and could not trace his way back home.
An eye witness, who pleaded anonymity, said that the young boy, who nobody had been able to ascertain where he was coming from or going to, “staggered” into the church, saying inaudible things.
David, according to the eye witness, had multiple bruises in certain parts of his body, including his head, mouth and arms.
The injuries on his body, an eyewitness said could have resulted from an earlier attack on him by unknown persons.
He said that the boy was earlier seen roaming about in the area before he headed to the church.
His apparent loss of memory and speech, the eyewitness said, had compounded his problem, making it impossible for him to get urgent help.
The eye witness said, “The boy was seen wandering around and picked up. He couldn’t give his home address correctly, but only remembered number 18. Right now, he’s at the CAC church, Ikosi Ketu. The person who found him just took his pictures, please help.
“Close observation of the boy showed that he had bruises all over his body, especially his head. Likewise, his mouth was severely injured with different marks. From his looks, one can say he was either battered and thrown out of a moving car or he escaped from the den of his kidnapers.”
The eyewitness further said, “When we discovered that he couldn’t talk to us after several efforts, we called in the police and social workers of the Child Protection Network, who later showed up to take him to the hospital for treatment.
“The following day, we learnt that the boy was already in the hospital receiving treatment, though yet to make any meaningful speech that could give any clue regarding his identity and where he had come from.”