13-year-old boy arrested over kidnap and murder of 10-year-old child after ransom payment in Plateau

A 13-year-old boy, Umar Hashim, has been arrested by the Anti-Kidnapping Unit of the Plateau State Police Command over alleged involvement in the kidnapping and murder of a 10-year-old boy, Tasiu Abdullahi (pictured)

Tasiu was kidnapped and killed after ransom payment in Rikkos community, Jos North Local Government Area of the state in December 2024.

The teen was picked up after reportedly visiting a SIM registration centre in the Katako area of Jos North Local Government Area for registration. 

Hashim was paraded on Tuesday at the state police command’s headquarters alongside six other suspects allegedly involved in the dastardly crime. 

The boy told journalists that security operatives stormed his family home and informed him that his phone number was used to collect ransom from Tasiu’s family. 

He said he had purchased a new SIM card from Usman Abdullahi on December 12 at a SIM registration center and asked him to register it.

He said the registrar told him to come back due to network instability and requested that he bring an older family member’s NIN for verification since he is underage.

“I went home, took my brother’s NIN and returned to the center. The registrar told me that my SIM card registration was being processed and asked me to buy a recharge card for him. When I returned, he claimed the registration was complete and handed me the SIM card,” the boy said. 

“I had no knowledge that the SIM card was used to demand ransom as alleged by the security operatives.’’

Responding to the allegation, the SIM card registrar, Usman Abdullahi, admitted that the 13-year-old boy bought a new SIM card from him but claimed that he handed it over to his friend after completing the registration process.

He said he was unaware of what his friend did with the SIM card before returning it to the boy.

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