Teenage daughter fakes own kidnapping, demands N50m from father

Policeman

Katsina State Police Command has arrested a 14-year-old girl for allegedly faking her own abduction and orchestrating the kidnapping of her four-year-old sister, in a desperate plot to extort a N50 million ransom from their father.

The Command’s spokesman, DSP Abubakar Sadiq, announced the arrest while briefing pressmen at the Katsina Command Headquarters yesterday.

He revealed that the Command had successfully cracked the kidnapping syndicate, rescued the four-year-old victim, arrested four members, and recovered one live round of AK-47 ammunition as evidence.

According to the police spokesman, the case began on February 20, 2025, when the Command received a complaint letter from one Alhaji Badamasi Bala, male, of Madaci Yan Nono Quarters, Katsina, reporting the kidnapping of his daughters, aged 14 and 4, respectively. A ransom of fifty million naira (N50, 000,000) was demanded by the kidnappers for their release.

Sadiq said “About four months after the kidnapping, the eldest daughter resurfaced. When questioned, she confessed to having conspired with three others to kidnap her 4-year-old sister and faked her own abduction.”

Following her confession, the remaining three members of the syndicate—aged 25, 19, and 16—were swiftly arrested, and the four-year-old victim was rescued unharmed. “They all confessed to committing the offence,” Sadiq said.

He informed that “during the investigation, one live round of 7.62mm ammunition was recovered from their possession. The investigation is ongoing.”

The Commissioner of Police, Katsina State Command, CP Bello Shehu, commended the efforts of the officers and urged the public to continue supporting the Command’s crime-fighting initiatives by reporting suspicious activities for prompt and decisive action. Vanguard