THE Katsina State Police Command has arrested a 30-year-old man Abubakar Abdulaziz suspected of kidnapping and killing a child in the Musawa Local Government Area (LGA) of the state.
Public Relations Officer (PRO) of the Command Gambo Isah noted in a statement on Monday April 17, that the child, a three-year-old boy, was abducted by the suspect from his home in Bacirawa village while his father was asleep.
“On March 23, at about 0100 hours, the suspect criminally trespassed into the residence of Adamu Alhassan of Bacirawa village, Musawa Local Government Area, Katsina State, while he was deep asleep and kidnapped his three-year-old son.
“He dropped a letter, directing Alhassan to pay a ransom of N800,000 and provided a contact number,” Isah noted.
The deceased’s father had negotiated and paid the sum of N150,000 to the suspect who confessed to burying the child alive, despite receiving the money.
Officials of the Command, however, traced and arrested the suspect who will subsequently be charged to court.
Many children in Nigeria fall victim to various forms of violence and abuse.
According to the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) six out of every 10 children experience some form of violence and only a fraction ever receive help.
In 2022, a five-year-old child, Hanifa Abubakar, was killed in Kano State by her teacher Abdulmalik Muhammad Tanko, who abducted her along and demanded a N6 million ransom from her parents.
The 38-year-old Tanko, the principal of Nobel Kids Academy and North West Preparatory School in Kano, abducted the child on December 4, 2021, on her way home from Islamiyya school.
Hanifa had been his pupil. Tanko murdered and buried her in a shallow grave after she recognised him while he held her captive.
The Police Command in the state had arrested Tanko who was sentenced to death by hanging by a High court in the state on July 28.
Ijeoma Opara is a journalist with The ICIR. Reach her via vopara@icirnigeria.org or @ije_le on Twitter.