The Zamfara State Police Command has arrested a 20-year-old boy for allegedly conniving with five others to abduct his mother and three others and collecting the sum of N30m as ransom.
The state police spokesperson, SP Mohammed Shehu, while addressing journalists in Gusau, the state capital, on Friday, said the suspect, Thomas Yau, informed the police that N10m was paid by each of the kidnap victims, including his mother, totalling N30m ransom.
Shehu said, “On February 12, 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.”
Shehu maintained that the case was under investigation and the suspects would be prosecuted.
