Police Rescue Kidnapped 7-year-old Boy, Recover Ransom In Borno

Borno State Police Command has rescued a kidnapped seven – year- old boy, arrested five suspects and recovered ransom paid to kidnappers.

A statement issued to newsmen yesterday in Maiduguri by the state police spokesman Nahum Kenneth Daso said on March 24 at about 15:30hrs, a report was received at the State Criminal Investigation Department in Maiduguri from a resident of Chad Basin Area of Maiduguri that his son was kidnapped on March 23 by unknown persons.

Daso said preliminary investigation revealed that the suspects contacted the boy’s mother through a concealed phone number and demanded a ransom of N10million which was later negotiated to N8 million.

He said N1.5million was subsequently paid into a POS account provided by the suspects.

The PPRO added that upon intensive digital forensic analysis, detectives of the command traced and arrested one Musa Mohammed Bashir, a POS operator, whose account was used to receive the ransom.

He said further coordinated operations led to the arrest of four additional suspects, namely: Ali Adam (aka Abba), 24 years; Abubakar Sadiq, 29 years; Abba Goni Abba, 18 years; and Mohammed Musa (aka Ale Mamman), 18 years, all residents of Chad Basin and Bulabulin Alajiri areas of Maiduguri.

“Consequently, the victim was rescued unhurt and taken to hospital for medical evaluation before being safely reunited with his family. The sum ₦1.5million was also recovered. The case is still under investigation and the suspect will be charged to court.

“’The commissioner of police, Borno State Command, CP Naziru Abdulmajid, commended the detectives for the swift breakthrough and reassured members of the public of the command’s sustained commitment to intelligence-led policing and urged the public to continue providing timely and actionable information to security agencies,” the statement said.

Daso said the command urged members of the public to remain vigilant and report suspicious movements or activities to the nearest police station.