The police in Katsina State have rescued a three-year-old boy and arrested four suspects in two child-abduction cases involving ransom demands.
The police said the suspects were linked to a group allegedly targeting children under five years old and using Point-of-Sale (POS) accounts to receive ransom-related payments.
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The command’s spokesperson, Abubakar Aliyu, disclosed this in a statement issued on Tuesday, 20 October.
According to the statement, the investigation began on 5 October when Abubakar Ahmed Rufa’i reported to the police Violent Crime Response Unit (VCRU) in Katsina that his four-and-a-half-year-old son had been abducted on 30 September.
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The kidnappers initially demanded ₦5 million but later agreed to collect ₦20,000 as feeding money before releasing the child, the police said.
The payment was made through POS accounts, leading investigators to arrest two operators, identified as Abubakar Muntari and Aminu Idris, who allegedly received and withdrew the money.
Three days later, on 8 October, another resident, Abdulrahaman Bello, reported that his three-year-old son was missing.
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Mr Bello told the police that the abductors had contacted him by telephone, demanding a ransom and an additional ₦100,000 for the child’s feeding.
Investigators subsequently linked the two incidents through what the command described as technical analysis.
At about 10:15 p.m. on 8 October, detectives arrested a 16-year-old suspect while he was allegedly attempting to collect money at a POS terminal.
The police said the two previously arrested operators identified the teenager as the person who collected the ₦20,000 payment in the first case.
According to the command, the teenager admitted involvement in the abductions and led detectives to a hideout where they rescued the three-year-old boy unharmed.
Police arrested another suspect, Aminu Musa, 20, during the operation.
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The police alleged that Mr Musa had guarded the abducted child and participated in ransom negotiations.
A SIM card allegedly used to communicate with the victims’ families was also recovered.
During interrogation, the suspects reportedly identified two other alleged accomplices, named only as Ibrahim and Mohammed, also known as Malam.
The police said both men remain at large, and efforts are underway to arrest them and identify other suspected members of the group.
The Commissioner of Police in Katsina State, Ali Fage, urged POS operators and other financial service agents to verify customers’ identities and report suspicious transactions to the police.
He also pledged that the command would continue its operations against people involved in child abductions.
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