- The police spokesperson said they work in conspiracy with kidnappers
The Delta State Police Command on Wednesday paraded four suspects in Asaba for collaborating with kidnappers to collect ransom from victims.
Delta State Police Public Relations Officer, SP Bright Edafe, revealed that the suspects provided their account details to kidnappers, deducting between 15% and 40% of the ransom before forwarding the balance.
The suspects—Chimerije Joshua Nwakpa, Eze Levy Onyekachi, Ezemma Maxwell Nnadozie, and Emmanuel Otubo—were arrested for their roles in the scheme. Nwakpa admitted to receiving ransoms totaling N3.6 million, N4.3 million, and N200,000, taking a commission of 15%.
The police spokesperson said, “They work in conspiracy with kidnappers. They are always in touch with kidnappers. Once they kidnap their victims and they are looking for where to send the ransom money to, they will contact this force man (pointing at one of the suspects) who contracts his friends to provide an account number where the ransom money will be sent to.
“After sending the money, they take their own commission which is between 15% and 40% and send back the balance to the kidnappers.”
The police urged Delta State residents to report any suspicious activities to authorities.