Bamenda: 9-year-old kidnapped pupil dies in custody

The corps of nine-year-old Happi Pretti Che, a Primary Five pupil of the National Social Insurance Fund, CNPS Primary School, Ntamulung, Bamenda, was discovered in the morning of November 4, 2015, in a stream below the Yong Sports Academy at Mile Six Nkwen, Bamenda. According to the Service Head for Investigations at the Bamenda Central Police Station, Senior Superintendent of Police, Ngueiwoh Gabriel, the disappearance of the child was reported on November 2, 2015.

The aunt said Happi Pretti Che went to school on Friday, October 30, 2015, but never returned. The aunt then gave the police the numbers some people had been using to call to ask for a ransom of FCFA 4 million. The police officer regretted that they had some delays at the level of the MTN office in Bamenda to get more information on the said numbers, if not, investigations would have been faster,” he explains.

According to the suspect, Ambe Neba Jasmine, 31, who is a family friend and a neighbour to the victim’s family, a friend of his, 20-year-old Assah Brandon, who lives at Cow Street, Bamenda, asked him if he had somebody that they can attack to get money. Ambe told the police he informed his friend that he had a neighbor whose wife is in Germany and their last daughter is so cherished that if kidnapped, the family would be ready to pay a ransom of even FCFA 4 million.

Ambe Neba Jasmine reportedly arranged with a commercial bike rider to collect little Happi Pretti Che from school on Friday, October 30, 2015. But when the girl hesitated, he told the rider to hand over the phone to her. When Happi heard Ambe’s voice, she accepted to go with rider and was taken to Assah Brandon’s home where she was kept and regularly administered the Tramor drug to keep her asleep. The kidnappers then contacted the family, asking for a ransom of FCFA 4 million, but they finally accepted to give only FCFA 700,000.

The suspects said they instructed the family to drop the money near New Road Junction, but when they discovered policemen around the area, they changed the venue to the Below Foncha Street Junction in a car tyre.

Ambe Neba Jasmine said he finally did not go to collect the money because he went to Brandon’s home on November 2, 2015, only to discover that Happi Pretti Che had died. It was about 11 pm the same day that they hired a commercial motorbike to transport the corpse which was then dumped below the stream adjacent Yong Sports Academy.