Ibrahim Shuaibu
The Kano State Command of the Department of State Services (DSS) yesterday said it had arrested five suspected kidnappers of a boy, Abdallah Abdulkadir Salisu, 6, of Gadon Kaya quarters in the state.
The officer, who led the operation, said the five kidnappers, who are barely 16 to 21 years of age and all residents of Dorayi quarters, met their waterloo when they called the father of their victim, Alhaji Abdulkadir Salisu, to collect a ransom.
According to the officer, the incident occurred on July 16, 2021, when one Abdulhadi Ibrahim, who is a cousin to the kidnapped child, connived with four others to abduct the boy in order to get ransom to celebrate Sallah festivities.
When Ibrahim, who had access to the victim’s house as a cousin, succeeded in abducting the child, he called one Yusuf Abubakar and Adamu Shehu, a tricycle operator, to transport the boy to their hideout at bypass area in Kano on a tricycle.
The victim remained in the custody of Yusuf Abubakar, where he stayed for three days while negotiations between the kidnappers and the child’s father were ongoing to collect the ransom.
The officer further stated that the kidnappers initially demanded N5 million ransom, but eventually pegged it at N150,000.
He added that the DSS received the complaint of the abduction of the boy from his father, adding that as soon as it received the information, the command swung into action and trailed the kidnappers up to the point of payment of the ransom and apprehended them.
The DSS operative said the boy was rescued unharmed while all the kidnappers were apprehended and detained in the DSS command in Kano.
The officer also disclosed that the parents of the kidnappers, who got the shocking information, had contributed money between themselves to refund the N150,000 ransom to the father of the kidnapped child.
