20-year-old man held for kidnap and murder of police officer’s son

The Bauchi State Police Command has arrested a suspect in connection to the abduction and murder of 12-year-old Christopher Bala in Magama town, Gumau Local Government Area of the state.

The victim, who was reportedly abducted on March 21, 2024, while going on an errand, is the son of a Police officer, ASP Bala Yarima of Gumau Division. 

A statement issued on Thursday, March 28, by the spokesman of the Command, SP Ahmed Wakil, revealed that the Police received a distress call about Christopher’s abduction and immediately swung into action in a bid to arrest the perpetrators.

The suspect, Rabi’u Ibrahim, who was identified during preliminary investigation, was said to have confessed to the crime. 

He also confessed to collecting N200,000 ransom from ASP Yarima. 

Ibrahim reportedly admitted to strangling Christopher out of fear of being recognised and burying the body in a shallow grave at Bazale village hill. 

The statement said: “He admitted that, fearing that Christopher recognised him, he went ahead to strangle the 12-year-old victim and buried the body in a shallow grave at Bazale village hill. 

“Following established procedures, the Bauchi State Police Command exhumed the victim’s remains. A postmortem examination conducted at the General Hospital Toro confirmed the cause of death as strangulation. 

“Subsequently, the case has been transferred to the Criminal Investigation Department for a comprehensive investigation, following a directive by the state commissioner of police.”