SS3 student fakes own abduction, collects N500k ransom

A Senior Secondary 3 schoolgirl in Delta State, identified simply as Chiamaka, has been arrested by the Delta State Police Command for faking her own kidnap alongside three of her friends and extorting a ransom of N500,000 from her mother, a peasant farmer.

The state Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), SP Bright Edafe in a video posted on his Facebook handle confirmed this on Monday, adding that the 17-year-old girl is presently in police custody.

The video showed the suspect confessing to the crime, saying, “My friends and I planned my kidnap to collect money from my mother.

“I didn’t want to do that, but my friends forced me to do it.”

Chiamaka added in the video, “The money we collected; N500,000, we used it to buy clothes.”

Edafe noted that “the suspect, together with her three friends, planned her kidnap, left Ugolo for Port Harcourt, and lodged in a hotel.

“Her mother, who is a widow and of modest means, went around to beg for the money to secure her release.

“During this process, she reported the incident to the police, and our investigation suggested it was not an actual kidnapping.

“Cases like this often involve youths between the ages of 15 and 20. In this instance, the 17-year-old said one of her friends had previously done the same to her mother, kidnapping themselves to extort money.

“She and her friends decided to replicate the same crime”.