A 12-year-old boy, Dayyabu Abdullahi, has been arrested by the Bauchi State police for allegedly kidnapping another minor, three-year-old girl, Mariya Yahaya.
The suspect, who hails from Magama Gumau in Toro Local Government Area of the state, reportedly lured the victim to an isolated place near a football field at Kara Area of Magama Gumau.
The command spokesperson, SP Ahmed Wakili, in a statement made available to journalists on Saturday said the suspect had relocated to Bauchi State from Kano in search of petty business together with his siblings.
Wakili said the suspect used a mobile phone (Techno Camon model), to call the victim’s father on phone, demanding N150,000 ransom.
The statement of the PPRO reads: “On 23/11/2022 at about 1740 hrs, Yahaya Sale, aged 56 years of Magama Gumau while at his shop located at the same address, received a threatening phone call from an anonymous person, demanding the sum of N150,000 as a ransom for the release of his kidnapped daughter, one Mariya Yahaya, aged 3-year-old of the same address”
“On hearing this, the victim’s father hung off the call, while the suspect kept calling but no response from the victim’s father. After a while, the victim’s father called the suspect on the phone and identified the suspect as Dayyabu through his voice, as the suspect is known by the victim’s father.” the statement revealed.
“The suspect then kept mute and quickly hung off the call when he realised that the victim’s father uncovered his identity. Consequently, he swiftly took the girl back to their house and told her family that he sighted her crying near a football field,” it added.
The PPRO further stated that “In this manner, the victim’s family immediately reported the suspect to the Police authority for necessary action.
On interrogation, the suspect stated that he is from Kano State and came to Bauchi State in search of petty business with his siblings.”
