Desmond Mgboh, Kano
The Kano State Command of the Nigeria Police Force has arrested a 24-year old kidnapping suspect, identified as Habibu Sale, for the death of an eight-year-old girl, Asiya Tasiu.
The police, during a briefing at the Bompai Police headquarters in the State, on Tuesday, said that the suspect, who had earlier abducted his victim, in Chikawa village in Gabasawa Local Government Council of the State, killed her after collecting a ransom of N500,000 from her relatives.
Kano police spokesman DSP Abdullahi Haruna Kiyawa, who briefed the press on behalf of the Police Commissioner, said that the abduction took place on the 5th of June 2020, but noted that the arrest was effected on November 7, while the suspect was standing in front of his house.
Shedding more light into the incident, he explained that the suspect buried her in a shallow grave at the outskirts of Chikawa village to cover his crime.
Kiyawa said that the girl was kidnapped on her way to her aunty’s house while observing that the suspect was a neighbour to the victim’s aunt.
The police spokesman said an investigation into the abduction had been extended to Jigawa, Kaduna, Katsina and even Abia State before the suspect was finally picked up adding that the suspect had since confessed o have committed the crime alone.
Haruna also said that he confessed to having spent the ransom that he collected on harlots, drugs and gambling.
The father to the kidnapped girl, Alhaji Tasiu Mohammed Adamu, told journalists that the kidnappers demanded N10 million ransom, ‘but we later settled for N500,000.
‘What I cannot explain is why they killed my daughter after we paid the ransom to them. This is very wicked of them. I need justice and I believe police will ensure that justice is done for the sake of my daughter.’