25-Year-Old Woman Arrested For Kidnapping Friend’s Son For N5m

The Kebbi State Police Command has arrested a 25-year-old woman, Maryam Muhammad, for allegedly abducting her friend’s four-year-old son, Abdulmumini Surajo, and demanding a N5m ransom from his family, as reported by The PUNCH.

A security analyst, Zagazola Makama, in a post on X on Monday, said the boy was declared missing on November 26, 2025.

He stated that shortly after the child disappeared, his father received a call from an unknown female voice insisting on a N5m payment for his release.

According to him, police detectives, who launched a manhunt, traced the number to Muhammad.

He wrote, “The victim, Abdulmumini Surajo, went missing on November 26, 2025. Later that day, the father received a call from an unknown female voice demanding a ransom of five million naira (N5,000,000). Police detectives traced the call and identified the caller as Maryam Muhammad, 25, a married woman from the same area.”

She was said to have been arrested, and she also reportedly confessed to the abduction.

Makama added that the child was rescued unharmed on November 29 at about 6:08 p.m. in Mahuta, Fakai Local Government Area of the state, where the suspect allegedly kept him.

When contacted on Monday, the state Police Public Relations Officer, Nafiu Abubakar, confirmed the incident.

He said, “The suspect had a misunderstanding with the mother of the boy and decided to retaliate by kidnapping him. She is currently in our custody, and an investigation is ongoing.”

The development comes amid a wave of kidnappings in the country, including the widely reported abduction of female students in Kebbi State.

Bandits stormed the school in the Maga area of the state on November 17, killing two staff members and abducting 25 students. They were later released from captivity.