The Nigeria Police Force said its Intelligence Response Team (IRT) uncovered the two cases during separate investigations.
In the first case, police arrested 34-year-old Nansik Wuyep Sule over the reported abduction of two-year-old Rito Jesse Davou.
According to the police, their investigation found that Sule allegedly worked with the child's biological mother, Catherine Davou, to make the kidnapping appear genuine.
Police said an initial ransom demand of ₦7m was made.
The force alleged that the child was later kept at Sule's home, where the ransom demand increased to ₦15m.
Another suspect, Luka Emmanuel Butdam, was also arrested for allegedly making ransom-related calls to the child's grandmother, police said.
Officers eventually located the boy and rescued him.
The police said he received medical attention before being handed over to his biological father.
The allegations have not been tested in court, and the police have not said whether the child's mother has also been arrested or charged.
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Separate kidnapping and robbery investigation
In a separate case, police said they arrested Idris Mohammed, also known as Yellow, and Mohammed Bello Adams over the alleged kidnapping of commercial driver Idris Zakari Baobab.
According to investigators, Baobab was allegedly lured into transporting Mohammed from Abuja to Zaria.
Police said armed men intercepted the vehicle during the journey, took the driver into the bush and held him until a ransom of ₦3m was paid.
The victim's 2012 Toyota Corolla was later traced to Bauchi State, where police said Mohammed was attempting to sell it.
Investigators also linked the two suspects to the reported kidnapping of Pastor David Dahni and his driver, Abdullahi Abubakar.
Police said a ransom of ₦10.5m was paid in that case.
Why the cases matter
The two investigations highlight different risks associated with kidnapping in Nigeria.
In the first case, the police allege that a child was deliberately presented as a kidnapping victim to generate ransom money.
If established in court, such a scheme would raise questions about how criminals exploit families' fears and the difficulty of verifying kidnapping reports during ransom negotiations.
The second investigation points to another pattern in which alleged kidnappers target commercial drivers, use vehicles connected to the victims and allegedly move stolen vehicles through other states.
For families and commercial transport operators, the cases underline the financial and security risks associated with ransom kidnappings.
They also raise questions about how effectively security agencies can trace ransom payments, identify wider criminal networks and recover property allegedly taken during kidnappings.
What evidence does the police have?
The police statement does not provide details of the specific evidence gathered against the suspects.
It identifies the suspects, outlines the allegations and gives details of the recovered child and Toyota Corolla, but does not disclose forensic evidence, call records, financial records or witness statements.
Those details could become important if the suspects are prosecuted.
The police also said the investigations are continuing to identify other people allegedly connected to the crimes and establish the full extent of the suspects' involvement.
What happens next?
The suspects remain allegations until proven guilty in court.
The next significant steps will be whether investigators bring formal charges, whether prosecutors proceed with the cases and what evidence is presented before a court.
The police said their investigations would continue.
For the families involved, the immediate outcome is the recovery of the two-year-old child and the reported recovery of the commercial driver's vehicle.
For the wider public, the cases will be closely watched to see whether the investigations lead beyond the arrested suspects to the wider networks allegedly involved in kidnapping, ransom collection and vehicle theft.
