Man fakes kidnap, demands N10m from parents to raise business capital

The 23-year-old contacted four men to execute the faking of his kidnap in order to extort his parents of N10 million.

Edward Okache, a 23-year-old man, has been arrested for faking his own kidnap.

Okache, who was apprehended by operatives of the Ogun State Police Command, and asked his gang members to demand N10 million ransom from his family.

The suspect was said to have contracted four men identified as Asamoah Ernest, Isiah Uti, Ephraim Anyijor, and Charity Lukpata, to execute the fake kidnap with a view to getting N10 million, which he intended to use for the funding for an online business.

In a statement announcing the arrest of the suspects, Ogun Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), Abimbola Oyeyemi said one Comfort reported through a phone call that his younger brother, who travelled from Calabar, Cross River, to Lagos, was kidnapped around the Mowe area of the state.

The statement read, “Upon the report, the DPO, Mowe division, SP Folake Afeniforo, mobilised the division’s tactical teams and moved to the area.

“Upon painstaking and enduring combing of the surrounding bush in the Orimerunmu area, the victim was sighted in an uncompleted building with the duo of Asamoah Ernest, a Ghanaian, and Isiah Uti, where he was tied in both hands and legs.

“The two suspects found with him were promptly arrested, while the victim was rescued.

“But on getting to the station, the two arrested suspects made a shocking revelation that the so-called victim was the person who planned with them to kidnap him in order for him to extort money from his parents to invest in an online business.

“They stated further that the so-called victim was introduced to them by Ephraim Anyijor and Charity Lukpata, who are from the same Yala Local Government Area of Cross River, and that they were all part of the planned kidnap of Edward Okache.

Their confession led to the arrest of Ephraim Anyijor and Charity Lukpata. They have all confessed to the commission of the crime.”

The police spokesperson added that the suspects would all be charged to court upon the completion of an ongoing investigation.