15-year-old boy leads fake kidnapping syndicate to grab N1.7m from mum

The Lagos State Police Command has arrested members of a kidnapping syndicate allegedly led by a 15-year-old schoolboy who staged his own abduction with the help of four friends.

The gang leader’s mum was said to have paid a ransom of N1.7 million to the syndicate.

The case drew public attention after a disturbing video showing the teenager begging for his life in what appeared to be a kidnappers’ den went viral, causing fear and concern across Lagos.

Police said the incident was first reported on November 26 at the Ago Palace Police Division as a missing person case.

At the time, the schoolboy, later identified as Victor Aligwo, was believed to have been kidnapped by unknown persons.

However, investigations by detectives of the Anti-Kidnapping Tactical Squad later revealed that the kidnapping was staged.

According to the police, the schoolboy allegedly coordinated the plot alongside four friends, using a room belonging to one of the suspects, Umeh Victor, to stage the scene.

To make the act appear genuine, the suspects recorded and circulated a distress video showing Victor pleading for help.

The footage reportedly heightened panic within his family and pressured his mother into paying ransom.

Further investigations showed that the suspects targeted the boy’s mother after learning she had recently received four million naira from a contribution.

Acting out of fear for her son’s safety, she paid a ransom of one million seven hundred thousand naira.

Police said the ransom was transferred through a Point of Sale terminal to an account linked to one of the suspects and was later shared among the group.

Following intelligence led operations, police operatives tracked the ransom transaction and arrested all five suspects between December 17 and 18 at Volkswagen Roundabout and in the Ago Palace area of Lagos.

The Commissioner of Police, Lagos State Command, CP Olohundare Jimoh, warned that the Command would not tolerate criminal deception or the exploitation of public fear, regardless of the age of those involved.

He reassured residents that the incident was not a genuine case of kidnapping and urged members of the public to remain calm, vigilant and quick to report suspicious activities to the police through the Command’s emergency lines.