Vulcaniser fakes kidnap, demands N12m from family

The police have arrested a 34-year-old vulcanizer, identified as Idris Isiaka, who allegedly faked his own kidnapping to extort money from his family in Edo State. This follows a similar case on January 13, when police arrested 18-year-old Obehi Odine, who allegedly faked her own kidnapping in Ekpoma to extort N10 million from her parents. […]

The police have arrested a 34-year-old vulcanizer, identified as Idris Isiaka, who allegedly faked his own kidnapping to extort money from his family in Edo State.

This follows a similar case on January 13, when police arrested 18-year-old Obehi Odine, who allegedly faked her own kidnapping in Ekpoma to extort N10 million from her parents.

The state police spokesperson, Eno Ikoedem, said the latest incident happened on January 10 in Emaudo, Ekpoma, Esan West Local Government Area of the state.

He said the suspect and his accomplices—one Mohammed Saliu and one Godwin Mohammed, who are currently at large—reportedly circulated news of his kidnapping on social media, demanding a ransom of N12 million.

The police spokesperson said the suspect deliberately staged the abduction along with two accomplices. 

According to him, after ‘kidnapping’ himself, he immediately engineered the circulation of the story on social media through a blogger.

Ikoedem said the accomplices contacted the suspect’s family in Kogi State, threatening that he would be killed if the ransom was not paid.  He said, ‘’The suspect’s brother eventually sold his property and paid part of the ransom, which the suspect then shared with his accomplices.

‘’The suspect has confessed to the crime and will be arraigned in court following the conclusion of the investigation.’’