A 54-year-old woman has landed in police custody in Delta State after allegedly staging her own kidnapping to pressure her younger brother into paying a N15m ransom.
The suspect allegedly invented a story that armed men had abducted her and taken her to a hideout in the bush, where they demanded the huge sum before she could regain her freedom.
The state Police Public Relations Officer, Bright Edafe, who disclosed the development in a video, said the matter was reported to the Ogwashi-Uku Divisional Police Headquarters on October 23, 2026.
He said the Commissioner of Police ordered the Anti-Kidnapping Unit in Obu-Luku, Aniocha South Local Government Area, to investigate the reported abduction.
Edafe explained that detectives deployed intelligence-gathering techniques and uncovered inconsistencies in the account, eventually establishing that the woman had allegedly arranged the incident herself.
He described the case as particularly disturbing, observing that the police had previously encountered staged kidnapping incidents involving mostly teenagers and young adults, but not someone of the suspect's age.
In a video released by the police, the woman reportedly confessed to fabricating her abduction, saying she contacted her brother after pretending to have been seized while going out to buy medicine.
“I told my brother that I had been kidnapped and that the people holding me were demanding N15m. I also told him they would kill me if he did not provide the money. It was the devil’s work, and I am asking for forgiveness,” she said.
Edafe said the suspect claimed she had remained in captivity for 12 days, adding that investigations had uncovered the alleged involvement of other individuals.
He said the police were tracking the suspected accomplices with a view to bringing them to justice.
