Author: Gist Correspondent

The Nigeria Police Force has uncovered a staged kidnapping involving a two-year-old child and dismantled a suspected kidnapping and armed robbery syndicate in separate intelligence-led operations by operatives of the Intelligence Response Team (IRT).

Force Public Relations Officer, CSP Ani Iniedu, disclosed this in a statement issued on Friday, saying the operations led to the rescue of the child and the arrest of several suspects linked to kidnapping and related crimes.

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

Investigations revealed that Sule allegedly conspired with the child's biological mother, Catherine Davou, to stage the kidnapping and make it appear as though the child had been abducted by unknown persons.

Police said the suspects initially demanded a ransom of ₦7 million before increasing it to ₦15 million while the child was being kept at Sule's residence.

Another suspect, Luka Emmanuel Butdam, was also arrested for allegedly making ransom calls to the child's grandmother during the fake kidnap operation.

The child was later rescued safely, given medical attention and reunited with his biological father.

In a separate operation, IRT operatives arrested Idris Mohammed, also known as "Yellow", and Mohammed Bello Adams for their alleged involvement in kidnapping and armed robbery.

According to the police, the suspects allegedly lured a commercial driver, Idris Zakari Baba, with a request for transportation from Abuja to Zaria before armed accomplices intercepted the vehicle, abducted the driver and held him captive until a ₦3 million ransom was paid.

Investigators later traced and recovered the victim's 2012 Toyota Corolla in Bauchi State while Mohammed was allegedly attempting to sell it.

Further investigations linked the suspects to the abduction of Pastor David Dahni and his driver, Abdullahi Abubakar, in a case where a ransom of ₦10.5 million was reportedly paid.

The police said investigations are ongoing to identify other members of the syndicate, recover additional exhibits and establish the full extent of the suspects' involvement in the criminal activities.

The Nigeria Police Force reaffirmed its commitment to combating kidnapping and other violent crimes across the country through intelligence-driven operations and collaboration with members of the public.