Police Bust Staged Kidnap Plot, Rescue Two-Year-Old Child

The Nigeria Police Force has arrested suspects linked to a staged kidnapping involving a two-year-old child and separately uncovered a suspected kidnapping and armed robbery syndicate in two intelligence-led operations.

The arrests were made by operatives of the Intelligence Response Team (IRT), according to a statement on Friday, August 28, by the Force Public Relations Officer, CSP Ani Iniedu.

In the first case, the police arrested 34-year-old Nansik Wuyep Sule over the reported abduction of two-year-old Rito Jesse Davou.

The police said investigations revealed that Sule allegedly connived with the child’s biological mother, Catherine Davou, to stage the kidnapping and make it appear that the child had been abducted.

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According to the statement, an initial ransom demand of N7 million was made before further investigations revealed that the child was being kept at Sule’s residence, where the demand was allegedly increased to N15 million.

Another suspect, Luka Emmanuel Butdam, was also arrested for allegedly making calls to the child’s grandmother in connection with the ransom demand.

The police said operatives subsequently located and safely rescued the child, who received medical attention before being handed over to his biological father.

In a separate operation, the IRT arrested Idris Mohammed, also known as Yellow, and Mohammed Bello Adams over their alleged involvement in the kidnapping of a commercial driver and other criminal activities.

The police said investigation showed that the victim, Idris Zakari Baba, was allegedly lured by Mohammed under the pretext of conveying him from Abuja to Zaria.

He was reportedly intercepted by armed men, taken into the bush and held captive until a ransom of N3 million was paid.

The victim’s 2012 Toyota Corolla was later traced to Bauchi State and recovered while Mohammed was allegedly attempting to sell the vehicle.

Further investigation, according to the police, linked the suspects to the reported kidnapping of Pastor David Dahni and his driver, Abdullahi Abubakar, for which a ransom of N10.5 million was allegedly paid.

The Force said investigations into both cases were ongoing to identify other persons connected to the alleged criminal activities and establish the full extent of the suspects’ involvement.