A livestock trader, Abdullahi Safiyanu, in Bauchi has recounted how his son’s abductors ended his life after demanding N3m ransom.
Shuaibu Safiyanu, was kidnapped in Darazo Local Government Area of the state on March 20, 2025 and later found d3ad in a bush.
Speaking to the Punch, the 42-year-old father narrated how he received the news of his son’s abduction.
“When we were at the livestock market, a group of young men who usually visited the market were said to be heading towards my house. They were coming to my house together with my son’s friend, who was a little bit older than him,” he explained.
“It seemed they were invited by someone. The person is still unknown to me. Before reaching my place, they met with the person who had called them. He then told my child, Shuaibu, who was in my compound, to come with him, claiming he wanted to send him on an errand. After speaking with my son, he wrote a phone number on a sheet of paper and asked my son’s friend to take it home.
“Since they were not familiar with such matters, when he (my son’s friend) got home, he forgot to deliver the message and continued with his normal activities. It was later that he remembered and gave me the sheet of paper where the kidnappers had written the phone number.
“It was obviously sent to me so that I could contact them. I then called the number and told the person who responded that a boy had been sent to bring the phone number home. The receiver (kidnapper) said, “Yes, I was the one who gave them the phone number.”
“He then told me that they had taken a boy with them. I then asked, “What for?” The person on the other end said they only wanted money and had to seize my son. When I asked again why they had taken my son and held him hostage, they responded that if I wanted to see my son, I should send them money
“They immediately asked if I didn’t want to see my son alive, and that was all. That was the last statement the man made before he suddenly ended the call. Since then, we never spoke again. Whenever I called the phone, it was unreachable.
“First of all, I reported the matter to the police, saying that my son had been kidnapped. I also showed the police officers the phone number the kidnappers had provided. We then continued searching. However, when we (police officers, my relatives and I) tried to call that particular phone number again, it was still unreachable.
“Later, when we managed to reach them (the kidnappers) through the phone number, we asked them what their problem was and why they had abducted my son. They said money was their issue; they needed money. We asked them why we should give them money since they were not known to us.
“We then asked what they would do with my son if we didn’t give them money. They said they wouldn’t do anything to him. However, they added that their kidnapped victims would not be released just like that without their relatives paying a ransom.
“My brother then suggested we ask them for the ransom amount. They said they needed N3m. After hearing this, my brother said we did not even have N100,000. They then said they didn’t care how we would get the money, and that we should go and look for it.
“We later bargained for N200,000, and they warned that if we didn’t send them the money, they would kill the boy. We pleaded with them not to kill him. The next day, we went back to the police station and the District Head of Gabas, Musa Isah.
The next step we took was to pay for the tracking of their location before calling them again. But before then, they directed us to a house in Darazo Local Government Area, saying my son was kept there and that we should take him along when we arrived. Unfortunately, when we got there, he was nowhere to be found. Since then, we became suspicious and began to doubt if Shuaibu was still alive.
“A day later, we continued with the negotiation over the amount and agreed on N200,000. Then we asked them to send the account number to receive the money. The account number they later sent belonged to one of them.
“They called again and said it shouldn’t be sent to the bank account. They then sent Point of Sale (PoS) account details belonging to a PoS operator in Darazo. Before this, the police were aware. We had provided them with the account details, and they had tracked the owner. The police then told the PoS operator that someone would come to collect money from the account.
“They informed him that when the person arrived, he would be monitored. The PoS operator then informed the police that the person had come before the money was sent, had collected N5,000 on credit, and left his phone, saying he would return later. When he came back to collect the money, he was arrested. As soon as he was apprehended, he threw away his SIM card, and it couldn’t be found.
“After two days, we went out in search of my son. We searched the house they had previously directed us to, but there was no sign of him. In the process, I went to a nearby bush and noticed a smell with many flies hovering around the area.
“I immediately called those who were with me and asked if they could smell anything. They confirmed it. We kept searching and eventually found my son’s body there. For security purposes, we stopped and called the police to come and retrieve the body themselves”.
On how he felt when he saw the corpse of his son, the father said: “I can’t explain how I felt when I discovered my son’s corpse. It is sad that they did not wait for the ransom before k!lling my child.”
“They used a rope to tie him around three times. We also saw blood on the sides of his two arms. After seeing the body, I left my brothers there and went home. We cannot say anything about that. What we know is that we discovered blood by the two sides of his arms. That is all.”
Abdullahi revealed that his wife and mother of the boy almost fainted upon receiving news of his d3ath.
“She nearly collapsed. Until now, she is not herself. Till date, she doesn’t eat”.
Now that they have been arrested, what punishment do you want the government to inflict on them?
“Like they did to me, I want the government to do the same to them. Everyone who has a child knows how it feels to have one. I want the government to pay them back for what they did to me
If you were opportune to meet those who k!lled your son, what would you tell them?
If it were when I was still hot-tempered, I would have fought them. That was how I felt when I realised my son had been killed.”
