Lagos couple fakes kidnap to extort ₦5 million from relatives

Disclosing the couple’s arrest in a statement addressed to members of the public, the Force Public Relations Officer (FPRO), Olumuyiwa Adejobi said the suspects, who allegedly faked their kidnapping, intended to obtain a ₦5 million ransom from relatives.

According to Adejobi, one 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 ₦5 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 ₦3m 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 might be intending to follow a similar trend to desist from doing so, saying that there will be dire consequences for such an act while also advising bloggers and other media to authenticate the genuineness of a kidnapping story before reporting it to prevent public panic.