- According to the police, the suspects staged their kidnapping to extort money from their family members.
At least three persons have been apprehended across the country for allegedly staging their own abduction, the police have said.
The suspects, including a couple in Lagos, were arrested by the police commands in Lagos, Abuja, and Plateau State.
According to the police, the suspects staged their kidnapping to extort money from their family members.
The Public Relations Officer of the Nigeria Police Force, Olumuyiwa Adejobi, announced the development in a statement on Tuesday.
He disclosed that the arrested couple, Doubara David Yabrifa and Regina Yabrifa, intended to obtain a N5m ransom from relatives through the staged kidnap.
Adejobi said Albarka Sukuya in Plateau State was arrested for staging his kidnapping on several occasions, and one Nnamdi Agu also staged his kidnapping in Abuja in an attempt to defraud his family.
The statement partly read, “In Lagos, a couple was arrested for an alleged self-kidnapping scheme aimed at obtaining a N5 million ransom recently.
“The husband, Doubara David Yabrifa, a 53-year-old technician, and the wife, Regina Yabrifa, a 48-year-old body massager and bone setter, were apprehended after a family member reported the purported kidnapping.
“The couple confessed to planning the self-kidnap to raise N3m to purchase a property in Badagry, Lagos. The husband justified the act, citing financial difficulties and a lack of support from relatives. Both were arrested, and they were subsequently charged in court.
“Also, one Albarka Sukuya of Jenta Apata, Jos, has been notorious for staging his kidnapping on several occasions and has received ransoms from unsuspecting members of the community in Plateau State.
“Similarly, on January 20, 2024, a young man, Nnamdi Agu, faked his kidnapping in Abuja in an attempt to defraud one of his family members who resides around River Park Estate, Abuja, to make money to pay for his pleasures.
“The police, in a swift response, foiled the staged kidnapping and arrested the suspect. The suspect and many others leverage the prevailing instances of kidnapping and plan to engage in such criminal and deceptive acts of staged or self-kidnapping to make money.
He, however, warned that others who’s mulling similar move to desist from doing so, saying that there will be dire consequences for such an act while also advising bloggers and other media to verify the veracity of a kidnapping story before reporting it to prevent public panic.
Kidnapping has been on the rise as armed non-state actors moved their operations from the beleaguered north west and Middle Belt region into the major cities across the country.