A 13-year-old boy, Umar Hashim, has been arrested by the Anti-Kidnapping Unit of the Plateau State Police Command in connection with the kidnapping and murder of 10-year-old Tasiu Abdullahi.
Tasiu was kidnapped and killed in Rikkos community, Jos North Local Government Area, in December 2024, after a ransom was paid.
Hashim was apprehended after visiting a SIM registration centre in the Katako area of Jos North for registration. He was paraded on Tuesday at the state police command headquarters alongside six other suspects.
The teenager told journalists that police officers came to his home and informed him that his phone number was used to collect the ransom from Tasiu’s family. He explained that he had bought a new SIM card from Usman Abdullahi at a registration centre on December 12 and asked him to register it. He said Abdullahi told him to return later due to network issues and asked him to bring a family member’s NIN for verification as he was underage.
“I went home, took my brother’s NIN and returned to the centre. 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.”
SIM card registrar Usman Abdullahi confirmed that the 13-year-old boy purchased a SIM card from him. However, he claimed that after registering it, he gave it to a friend, and he was unaware of what his friend did with the SIM card before it was returned to the boy.
