The Zamfara State Police Command has arrested a 20‑year‑old man accused of conspiring with five others to abduct his mother and three additional victims and to demand a total ransom of N30 million. Speaking to journalists in Gusau, the state capital, on Friday, police spokesperson SP Mohammed Shehu said the suspect, Thomas Yau, told authorities that each kidnap victim, including his mother, paid N10 million, amounting to the N30 million ransom.
Shehu explained that on 12 February 2023, the Zamfara Police Command, through its community‑policing engagement, acted on intelligence that led to the disruption of a kidnap syndicate and the arrest of six suspected kidnappers who had been terrorising villages in Kaduna, Kano and other neighbouring states, including Zamfara and Sokoto. During the investigation, it emerged that the suspects had carried out a series of kidnappings, abducting an unspecified number of people and collecting millions of naira in ransom.
Each suspect detailed the number of kidnappings they had participated in and described their role in each operation. Notably, Thomas Ya’u confessed that, sometime last year, he had masterminded the kidnapping of his biological mother and three others. The kidnappers collected N30 million from the victims’ relatives, and Ya’u received N1 million as his share.
Shehu affirmed that the case remains under investigation and that the suspects will be prosecuted.
Comments are closed for this story.