This archive report was first published on 11 December 2019.
On April 16, 2019, a 22-year-old man, Ibrahim Kazeem, hatched a sinister plan to kidnap his six-year-old step-sister, Asiya Kazeem, to raise money for his girlfriend, Murja.
According to the state police spokesperson, SP Gambo Isah, Ibrahim conspired with his girlfriend to kidnap Asiya while she was returning from an Islamic school.
The ransom was initially pegged at 3 million naira, but Ibrahim pleaded with his gang members to accept a reduced amount of 200,000 naira, which his father agreed to pay.
As part of the plan, Ibrahim's elder brother was used to deliver the ransom money to ensure he wasn't coming with the police.
However, the plan went awry, and the state police eventually arrested Ibrahim.
Speaking to newsmen after his arrest, a remorseful Ibrahim confessed that his girlfriend had suggested the kidnapping plan to raise money for her own benefit.
"My girlfriend came visiting and I kept her in an apartment detached from our main building," Ibrahim said. "Nobody knew she was in that house. But during her stay, I could not give her the kind of money she wanted. She suggested that we should abduct my step-sister so as to raise the money to give her."
Tragically, the girl he kidnapped for, Murja, left him immediately after his arrest.
