Four people, comprising three male hunters and a woman, have been arrested by the Adamawa State Police Command for allegedly torturing a 14-year-old boy, Abobo Nasani, for suspected theft of N21,000 cash.

Nasanai, of the Tasala community in the Demsa Local Government Area, was accused of taking the money, which belonged to a woman, Ngularo Pemu, of the same community.

Pemu, fingering the boy for her missing money, reported him to the hunters.

The local hunters, Kanisi India, 35; Paul India, 25; and Dickson Hani, 30; and Pemu are now being investigated for allegedly pouring petrol and a local gin, Ogogoro, on the minor while flogging him for the alleged crime.

Bits of information on the matter have it that the suspected hunters tied Nasani to a tree, tortured and starved him for two days before dumping him by the roadside in Demsa.

The hunters, who confessed to the police that they maltreated the boy, said after the boy was brought to their office at Tasala, their preliminary investigation gave the impression that he actually stole the money but was refusing to disclose where he kept it.

The boy’s father, Marvelous Tunoh, speaking on the case, said after failing to link his son with the crime, the hunters took him to the roadside and left him there.

All the suspects have owned up to the part they played in the matter, expressed regret, and begged for mercy, according to the state Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), SP Suleiman Nguroje.

Nguroje who said the state Commissioner of Police, CP Afolabi Babatola, had been prompt in ordering the arrest of the hunters after hearing Tunoh’s complaint assured that the command would charge all the suspects to court for prosecution.