Malawi police offer K30 million reward in Nusrat Osman abduction

Malawi Police have intensified their search for Nusrat Osman, a 47-year-old British national who was abducted from her home in Mount Pleasant, Blantyre, on Friday, September 11, and are now sending SMS messages to members of the public in a bid to track her down, Nyasa Times reported on September 14. A reward of MK30 million remains on offer for credible information leading to her rescue and to the arrest of those responsible.

The MPS is offering a reward of MK30 million to any person who provides credible information that directly leads to the successful rescue of the victim and the arrest, prosecution and conviction of the perpetrators

The money comes with conditions. Chiwaula said the reward would go to any person whose credible information directly leads to the successful rescue of the victim and to the arrest, prosecution and conviction of the perpetrators. The sum was given as MK30,000,000, or thirty million Malawi Kwacha, in reporting by Nyasa Times, and police said all information received would be kept strictly confidential.

What police say happened on Friday

Osman was snatched by four men at around 12:30pm on Friday, September 11, 2026, at her Mount Pleasant home, according to Nyasa Times. Police did not say whether the men were armed. Senior Superintendent Gladys Chiwaula, the Malawi Police Service public relations officer, said in a statement issued that Friday that the suspects were believed to have fled in a grey Nissan Dualis with the registration number CA 6956.

Police confirmed the kidnapping of a British national in Blantyre on the day it happened and announced the K30 million reward at the same time, Nyasa Times reported. Earlier that day, authorities had yet to issue any official statement on the reported abduction, according to Malawi24, and an appeal for information had already gone out to members of the public asking for anything that could help establish her whereabouts.

The reward is meant to encourage members of the public with information to come forward and assist investigators, police said, according to Malawi24. The circumstances surrounding the kidnapping remain unclear as officers intensify investigations to establish who was behind the incident and where the victim is being held. Nyasa Times reported that investigators were scrambling for leads.

The auditor and her employer

Osman works as an auditor at Audit Consult Limited, which operates from Keza Office Park in Chichiri, Blantyre, Nyasa Times reported. Its first account of the case said she had vanished near Mount Pleasant, and the police statement issued later that day placed the abduction at her home there. Her employer's offices and her home are both in Blantyre.

Nyasa Times gave her name as Nusrat Osman Jiwa in its first report, published on the day she was taken. The police statement identified her as Nusrat Osman and referred to her as Mrs Osman.

Audit Consult Limited confirmed the abduction and issued an urgent public appeal, calling on anyone with information about Osman's whereabouts to contact police immediately, Nyasa Times reported. Her family said they did not know who had taken her or what could have motivated the incident, according to Malawi24.

The abduction left Osman's family and employers scrambling for information as police launched a search, Nyasa Times reported, describing the motive as a mystery and noting that police were said to be investigating. Malawi24 reported security fears in Blantyre in the hours after the auditor was reportedly taken by unknown people, with the circumstances of the case still unexplained.

A grey Nissan Dualis, registration CA 6956

Both the police account and the first account from Osman's family point to a Nissan Dualis. Chiwaula said the suspects were believed to have fled in a grey vehicle carrying the registration CA 6956. Her husband, Nazil Osman, described the car as grey or silver and gave the registration as 6956 when he first spoke about the abduction, Nyasa Times reported.

Officers have turned to mass text messaging in the hunt for the car and the woman. Nyasa Times reported that police were blitzing members of the public with SMS messages as they scrambled for leads, on top of the bounty already on offer, and were appealing to anyone with information on Osman's whereabouts, or on the suspected getaway vehicle, to come forward immediately. The text campaign was reported on September 14.

Chiwaula urged members of the public to remain calm and to avoid spreading unverified information that could jeopardise the ongoing investigation. She stressed that everything passed to police would be treated with strict confidentiality, an assurance the force repeated when it published the reward.

According to police, four men are believed to have taken Osman before fleeing in the grey Nissan Dualis bearing registration number CA 6956, Malawi24 reported. No suspects have been named publicly, and the police statement described those responsible only as four men travelling in that car.

Her husband says he does not know

Nazil Osman spoke about his wife's abduction in a phone call to Nyasa Times, in an account it published the day after she was taken. He said he did not know who had taken her or why. He said he had no issues with anyone, and that his wife's work was auditing.

I don't know where she is or how she is, my wife is an auditor and I have no issues with anyone

Police have not disclosed a motive for the abduction, and investigations are continuing, Nyasa Times reported. Osman's employer and the police have made the same request of the public: information from anyone who saw the grey Nissan Dualis or knows where she is being held. The service has assured whistleblowers that anything they provide will be treated with strict confidentiality.

Where the search stands in Blantyre

Nusrat Osman, 47, a British national, was taken at about 12:30pm on Friday, September 11, 2026, from her home in Mount Pleasant, Blantyre, by four men who fled in a grey Nissan Dualis with the registration CA 6956, the Malawi Police Service said. The force has offered K30 million for credible information that leads to her rescue and to the arrest, prosecution and conviction of those responsible, and is sending SMS messages to the public as it looks for her.

She works as an auditor at Audit Consult Limited at Keza Office Park in Chichiri, Blantyre. The firm confirmed the abduction and appealed for information. Her husband, Nazil Osman, said he did not know where she was or who had taken her, and gave the registration of the car as 6956 in his first account. Police say the circumstances of the kidnapping remain unclear.

A kidnapping in Lilongwe in February

Osman's abduction came months after the kidnapping of Sameer Sacranie, Managing Director of Crossroads Hotel, who was seized at his workplace in Lilongwe on February 6, 2026, Malawi24 reported. He returned unharmed on the night of March 10 after 33 days, in what The Nation reported was believed to be an escape, and no one has been arrested. Malawi24 cited that case in both of its reports on the Blantyre abduction.

The Blantyre kidnapping has heightened security concerns in the city, Malawi24 reported, with police racing against time to locate the missing woman and bring those responsible to justice. Its earlier report, filed on the day Osman disappeared, described security fears in Blantyre after an auditor was reportedly abducted by unknown people.

Sacranie was taken from a workplace in Lilongwe; Osman was taken from a home in Blantyre. The Sacranie case ended with him returning unharmed after 33 days, and the search for Osman is continuing, with police appealing for information on her whereabouts and on the car.

The reward remains in place and police are still asking for information on Osman's location and on the suspected getaway vehicle, according to Nyasa Times, which reported on September 14 that the force had stepped up its search.

What police want from the public

Police published five numbers for anyone with information that could help locate Osman: 0999 938 794, 0999 277 832, 0994 000 189, 0999 492 762 and 0998 967 321. The numbers were issued alongside the reward announcement, and police said information given to them would be treated with strict confidentiality. Anyone who saw the grey Nissan Dualis has been urged to make contact.

Chiwaula has asked the public to stay calm and not to spread unverified claims that could compromise the investigation. No motive has been made public, no group has claimed responsibility, and the Malawi Police Service says its inquiries are continuing. The MK30 million reward stands, and Osman has been missing since Friday afternoon.