The police in Edo have arrested a 34-year-old vulcaniser, Idris Isiaka, for allegedly faking his own kidnapping to extort money from his family.
The state Police Public Relations Officer, SP Eno Ikoedem, disclosed this in a statement on Thursday in Benin.
Ikoedem said the incident occurred on Jan. 10 at Emaudo, Ekpoma, in Esan West Local Government Area of the state.
He said the suspect allegedly staged the abduction with two accomplices identified as Mohammed Saliu and Godwin Mohammed, who are currently at large.
According to him, the suspect and his accomplices circulated news of his kidnapping on social media and demanded a ransom of N12 million.
“The suspect deliberately staged the abduction along with two accomplices.
“After ‘kidnapping’ himself, he immediately engineered the circulation of the story on social media through a blogger,” Ikoedem said.
The police spokesman said the accomplices later contacted the suspect’s family in Kogi State, threatening that he would be killed if the ransom was not paid.
“The suspect’s brother eventually sold his property and paid part of the ransom, which the suspect then shared with his accomplices,” he said.
Ikoedem added that the suspect had confessed to the crime.
“The suspect has confessed to the crime and will be arraigned in court following the conclusion of the investigation,” he said.
The police spokesman recalled that the arrest followed a similar incident on Jan. 13, when an 18-year-old, Obehi Odine, was arrested for allegedly faking her own kidnapping in Ekpoma to extort N10 million from her parents.
