Police arrest man for demanding ransom from his dad after faking kidnap

The 20-year-old was said to have demanded ransom payments from his dad after faking his own kidnap.

Disclosing this incident, Benjamin Hundeyin, the Lagos Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), stated that following Collins’ arrest along with one male and four female accomplices, whose names were not disclosed, they all got detained for allegedly orchestrating the crime.

Hundeyin made the disclosure of the arrest of the suspects, as he dismissed a claim of illegal detention by one of the suspects.

Hundeyin’s disclosure came after a viral post from an X user, @Flacko TG, who claimed he was being detained at the Ikeja Police Division for a crime he didn’t commit and wanted the public to know his whereabouts.

“Guys I’m locked up in the Ikeja police station. I don’t have enough time, and I don’t know what to do. So, this is my only alternative, so y’all know what happened to me,” he wrote.

He added, “Someone faked his kidnapping and requested (a) ransom from his dad. His dad reported the case to SARS, and they tracked his phone.

“I genuinely knew nothing about it until I reached the station. His dad came to the station and requested his release, but they insisted on trying the case in court, which could take up to three years to resolve. Other people who were in the apartment with him were locked up as well.”

Responding to the X user’s claim in the comment section of the post, Hundeyin stated that the detained suspects had demanded a ransom from Collins’ father after executing their scheme.

Hundeyin revealed that the 20-year-old faked his kidnapping while staying with other suspects in a short-let apartment in the Lekki area of Lagos before their arrest.

He stated, “Following a report from his family, our investigation established that 20-year-old Collins Oluchukwu Ikwebe faked his own kidnapping. His dad received several calls from Collins’ number but with different voices giving instructions on what amount of money to be paid and methods of payment.

“At different times spanning two weeks, different sums —$500,000, $200,000, ₦2,000,000, ₦50,000, and ₦30,000— were requested from Collins’ dad.

“On Thursday, June 20, 2024, detectives of the Lagos State Police Command eventually busted a short-let four-bedroom apartment in Lekki where Collins and five of his schoolmates (one male, four females) had been staying for the past 10 days.”

Hundeyin further noted that none of the suspects had been exonerated yet, noting that “investigation is being concluded to establish the extent of culpability of the other five occupants of the apartment.”

Nigerians have, however, taken to the microblogging site to call on the police authorities to conduct a thorough investigation into the matter.