>
A 39-year-old Qur’anic teacher, Jamilu Idris, has been arrested by the Katsina State Police Command for allegedly kidnapping the four-year-old son of his uncle.
The Police paraded the suspect, who resides at Sabon-Fegi, Yankara village, Faskari Local Government Area, at the Command headquarters in Katsina, on Wednesday.
Idris said he abducted the boy to extort money from his father.
“I went to Funtua where my uncle lives with his family. When Umar Faruk, my cousin, came out to tell me that his father was not around, I used the opportunity to kidnap the boy. Because he knows me, he did not refuse to follow me. I took him with me, bought him Viju milk and eventually took him to the motor park where I took him to Abuja,” he said.
On getting to Abuja, Idris said he took the boy to a woman and told her that Umar is his friend’s son who would be taken back to Funtua.
“When I returned home, I changed my voice to that of a Fulani man and called Umar’s father, my uncle, and told him that his son had been kidnapped. I told him to give us five million but he said he had only N500,000,” Idris said.
The police spokesperson in the state,SP Gambo Isa, said the father of the child, however, refused to pay the ransom and instead involved the police.
Isa said the suspect was traced and arrested in the course of the investigation.
“I want to use this opportunity to call on everyone to be involving the police in issues like this. We are against payment of ransom to kidnappers,” he added.