For allegedly stealing their neighbour’s two-year-old son, a middle-aged man, Abubakar Saidu and his wife, Salamatu are currently cooling their feet in the custody of the Police Command in Nasarawa State.
The Command’s Public Relations Officer (PRO), DSP Ramhan Nansel, who briefed newsmen on Thursday in Lafia, the Nasarawa State capital, said the missing boy’s father, Adamu Abdullahi of Orange Market Mararaba in Karu Local Government Area, reported the case to the Police on 13th August 2023 at about 3:30 p.m.
Nansel said the complainant, who reported that his two-year-old son had been missing for almost two weeks, also informed the Police that he got a phone call on the same day from an unknown person demanding a ransom of N2 million.
The spokesman said police detectives were immediately deployed in search of the missing child, and their efforts led to the arrest of the prime suspect and three accomplices.
According to him, the prime suspect, a neighbour to the victim’s father, upon interrogation, confessed to conspiring with the other suspects, all of Orange Market, to steal the child, adding that the suspect also told the detectives that the child was handed over to his wife, who took him to Katsina State.
The Police spokesman said officers of the Command trailed the suspect’s wife to Katsina state, where she was not only arrested, but the child also recovered and reunited with his parents.
Speaking to newsmen after being paraded alongside others, the key suspect, Abubakar Saidu, said; “I have no reason for keeping the child because the parents are my neighbors. I regretted my action for stealing the child.’’
On her part, the suspect’s wife, Salamatu Abubakar, said; “I know the child and I know the parents, they are my neighbors. I am ashamed of myself for taking part in the abduction of the child.
‘’My husband handed over the child to me and I took him to Kastina State for safekeeping pending when they will pay the N2 million. I gave birth to children, but all of them are dead
Meanwhile, the Command has disclosed that about 14 suspects were arrested between July and August 2023 for various offences, including kidnapping, armed robbery, and cultism.
DSP Nansel said three guns and 11 rounds of live ammunition were recovered from some of the suspects, adding that all the suspects would have their days in court upon completion of the investigation.
However, he urged members of the public to be security conscious always and report any criminal activities around them to the police and other security agencies – With NAN reports
