Pascal Arogorn Ibe
The Lagos State Police Command has arrested a teenager , Ujunwa Offiah , for allegedly conspiring with her boyfriend, Blessed Ifesinachi, to fake her kidnap and demand N 30m ransom from her family.
The police also arrested an accomplice, Precious Chukwu , 22, whose phone was reportedly used to negotiate with Offiah ’ s family .
The state Commissioner of Police, Hakeem Odumosu , while parading the suspects at the command headquarters on Monday , said the principal suspect, Ifesinachi , was at large.
Odumosu said , “ This is a case of conspiracy and staged kidnapping, and the man at the centre of this case , who happens to be a Uber driver, is still at large . We are going after him because he conspired with one of these two ladies , Offiah , who faked her kidnap .
“ He cleverly used the phone of another girlfriend, Precious ( Chukwu ) , to contact Offiah ’ s family, informing them that their daughter had been kidnapped.
“ He requested N 30m from Offiah’ s family to get her freed and during negotiations , which involved the police, they settled for N 700, 000. While the money was being dropped, we took action and in the process arrested Offiah and Precious. ”
Speaking with PUNCH Metro , Offiah said she joked about the kidnap with Ifesinachi, adding that she was surprised he took it seriously .
She said , “ I met Ifesinachi in October , and when we got talking , I jokingly told him to kidnap me so that he would collect ransom from my sister. I never knew that he took it seriously until he told me he had gone to the village to meet a native doctor and also discussed with his guys about the deal . When he said he was ready , he realised that I was scared and threatened to kill me if I informed anybody of the plan.
“ So , I refused to tell anybody because he is a cultist . On November 27, on my way back from school , I went to meet him and a girl , Patience , at 2nd Rainbow, and from there , we went to a hotel. At the hotel, he called my sister to demand N 30m as ransom, but when I heard that my grandmother had collapsed in the village because of what happened to me, I told him to accept any amount they offered.
“ On Thursday, he went to get the money and came back to the hotel on Friday morning . He told me he collected N 600, 000 and released me thereafter . When I saw my family members , I told them that I was kidnapped by some guys. I lied to my family and the police, because he threatened to kill me , including my sister’ s children. It was when I saw his girlfriend and my schoolbag that I confessed about the whole kidnap . ”
Chukwu denied knowing that her phone was being used to negotiate the ransom.
She said , “ He ( Ifesinachi) asked for my phone that he wanted to use it for business . I never knew he wanted to use it to do this kind of a thing. I was at my workplace when the police came to arrest me. ”
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