A 10-year-old boy who was on an errand for his mother, was abducted by an unidentified middle aged man, who exchanged him for three bags of rice in Ijegun area of Lagos.

The suspect, who is at large, allegedly approached and addressed the boy aggressively during the weekend at Prince Bus Stop, Isheri Oshun, after which he introduced himself to the unsuspecting boy as a relative.

The stranger then followed him to the shop where he was sent to buy a bottle of groundnut oil in a move to convince the boy, and thereafter, took him to a shop where he collected three bags of rice.

He convinced the salesgirl, identified simply as Deborah, that he was going to get the money, while his brother remained with her.

However, that was not to be as the salesgirl waited endlessly without seeing the stranger or the money for the bags of rice, which totaled N48,000.

She said:

“ When the man came to the shop with the boy, he asked how much was a bag of rice. I told him it was N16,000 and he left with the boy, saying he was going to tell the woman that sent them. “Moments later, he came back and said that he needed two bags.

Again, he called the purported person that sent them on phone and suggested that they should add one more bag.

“After the call, he told me to help him get a tricycle that would convey the three bags of rice to Fire Junction, where he claimed the owner was. He said the boy will remain with me while he went to get the money.

“After waiting for close to one hour without seeing him, I told the boy to take me to his mum’s shop at the said Fire Junction.

“But he said that his mother did not own a shop there and that the stranger only met him on the road and brought him to the shop.

“It was at that point that I knew I had been robbed. I alerted my neighbour, who said that the stranger must have used the boy as exchange for the bags of rice.”

Meanwhile, apprehension had set in at the boy’s house after his disturbed mother visited the shop, only to be informed that his son had left with a stranger.

While a search party was combing the vicinity for the boy, the owner of the shop and the salesgirl, were sighted taking him to the Isheri-Oshun Police Division.

During interrogation, the boy narrated the incident to his parents.

He said:

“After returning from the shop, the stranger asked if I knew where they sell bags of rice. I told him they were selling close to our house.

“But he said he did not want to buy there that I should follow him to buy elsewhere.

“I followed him because he introduced himself as my cousin. He collected the money I had with me to pay for the fare and told me to wait at the shop, that he would come and take me back home after dropping the bags of rice.”

The Police, however, released him to his parents same day with a directive to report back to the station yesterday, where a meeting between the boy’s parents and owner of the shop who insisted on getting the money for the bags of rice.

Meet 65-year-old Mustafa Magambo Mutone, a proud father of 176 children, 90 grand children, 13 wives and 10 Girlfriends.

According to Mustafa, he’s having financial challenges to train all of them and wants the Government to support some of his 176 children.

“I have tried to feed my 13 wives and over 170 children and it is not easy. I request the Government to at least sponsor 30 of my children in secondary schools and tertiary institutions,” Mutone, a businessman and a resident of Kyaterekera trading centre in Kagadi district, said.

He added that he has over 40 children in primary school and has plans to establish his own nursery and primary school in Kyaterekera sub-county. He says he has about 10 children in the universities (Makerere, Mbarara and Kyambogo), most of them on private sponsorship.

Mutone has five pairs of twins among his children. His children will hit the 180 mark by the end of the year because six of his wives are pregnant.

Mutone, a Mubwisi by tribe, is the chairman of Kyaterekera A village. He was born on January 1, 1952 in Kiryabwenju, Nyamiti parish, Muhorro town council in Kagadi district. His first marriage was in 1968 at 16 years of age.

In an interview with Ugandan’s New Vision, he explained that he is still strong enough to marry more wives and bear more children, since he does not drink alcohol, smoke or take sugar.

Mutone, who deals in produce (beans, maize and coffee), also owns a wholesale shop at Kyaterekera trading centre. He says some of his wives are working as midwives at Mulago Hospital and Mbarara Hospital and in Rwanda.

“Two of my wives who gave birth to twins are in Kampala and Isingiro, working as midwives, while another two — Haniffer Kabasomi and Jane Tuhaise — work as nurses. My youngest wife is 25, and the eldest is 50, but I had about 10 girlfriends before I married officially and they all delivered the same year,” Mutone said.

According to him, his first born child is 49 years old, while the youngest are four-year-old twins. He further noted that he has over 90 grandchildren.

The grey-haired Mutone, said he has a special book where he records every child born whether within the country or outside, because he has some wives in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Rwanda, and Burundi.

He said one of the challenges he faces is the long distance as some of his women live in different parts of the country.

“I receive about 10 calls every day from different wives who want attention but I cannot be everywhere. I have seven wives in Kagadi alone,” he said. “I do not have any challenge of supporting them because some of them support themselves since they work,” Mutone said.

Madina Tibasiima, 45, one of his wives who has nine children, said she has not faced any problems with a big family because most of her children are working as soldiers, civil servants, and nurses.

She, however, said her younger children need school fees; some are in primary school and others in secondary school.

One of Mutone’s sons, Kyaise Suwedi, 40, the Gombolola internal security officer of Kyaterekera, said his monthly salary caters for some of his brothers’ education.

“We were groomed by our father to be responsible, have good morals and work hard. The only challenge is the big number of dependants of other wives who have children aged between four and 13 years,” Kyaise said.

While another son, Muhamad Byarufu, aged 45, said he owns a business and helps pay school fees of some of his younger brothers.

“We have a programme of starting up a school with our father, since some of my brothers are teachers. We will not find a problem hiring teachers and having pupils to teach. Some of my young brothers are in primary elsewhere and some children of our stepmothers are of school-going age. They can fill the classes,” he said.