20-year-old kidnaps mother; collects N30m ransom

A 20-year-old, Thomas Ya’u has been arrested by the Zamfara State Police Command for allegedly conniving with five others to abduct his mother and three others, and collecting N30 million as ransom.

The command’s spokesman, Superintendent Mohammed Shehu told reporters in Gusau, the state capital, on Friday that the suspected boy informed the police that N10 million was paid by each of the kidnap victims, including his mother.

Shehu said: “On 12 February 2023, the Zamfara Police Command, through its community policing engagement, acted on intelligence information that led to the bursting of a kidnap syndicate and the arrest of six suspected kidnappers, who had been terrorising different villages in Kaduna, Kano and other neighbouring states, such as Zamfara and Sokoto.

“In the course of investigation, it was discovered that the suspects carried out a series of kidnappings, where an unspecified number of people were abducted and millions of naira collected as ransom.

“Each suspect further narrated the number of kidnappings he participated in, as well as the role he played in each operation.

“Surprisingly, one of the suspects, Thomas Ya’u, confessed that sometime last year, he masterminded the kidnap of his biological mother and three others.

“They collected the sum of N30m from the relations as ransom, and in turn, he was given one million as his share”.

According to the police spokesman, the case is under investigation and the suspects would be prosecuted.