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ABAKALIKI – A 16-year-old student in Ebonyi State orchestrated a shocking scheme: she faked her own kidnapping. The SS2 student then demanded a N2 million ransom from her own family. Joshua Ukandu, the State Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), confirmed the details of how this teenager fakes own kidnap plot unfolded and was foiled in Abakaliki.
A Disappearance Staged with Unwitting Help
The student’s plan involved a family friend, who police say was unaware of the deception. PPRO Ukandu explained the student’s initial steps: “According to the teenage student, on getting to town, she decided to go to the house of one of their family friends who was not aware of her missing.”
From this friend’s house, using his phone, she contacted her brother. She delivered the false news of her abduction and stated the N2 million ransom needed for her supposed release. “The brother requested to speak to the kidnappers, but she refused and blocked his line,” Ukandu detailed. The decision by the teenager fakes own kidnap attempt to use a known contact would soon prove risky.
Suspicious Account Details Lead to Arrest
The carefully constructed plan began to crumble when the student provided the same family friend’s bank account number for the ransom payment. This raised immediate red flags for her family. They quickly alerted the police. Investigators tracked the girl and the family friend, identified as Edozie.
“She slept there one night and the next one. While she was going out to buy something, her family members who were already suspicious and laying ambush there saw her and the police arrested them,” stated Ukandu. Though now back with her family, the investigation into how this teenager fakes own kidnap was planned continues. Both the student and Edozie, whose account was central to the failed extortion, are part of this ongoing inquiry.
By Abdullah Korede
