Lagos Woman Arrested for Allegedly Staging Self-Abduction, Swindles Husband of N2.5m

The Lagos State Police Command has arrested a 26-year-old housewife alongside her 30-year-old accomplice over allegations that she orchestrated her own kidnapping to extort N2.5 million from her husband.
The command’s spokesperson, SP Abimbola Adebisi, confirmed the arrests in a statement released on Saturday in Lagos.

She disclosed that the police received a distress call on November 24 through one of its emergency lines from the suspect’s husband, who reported that his wife had been abducted by armed men.
According to Adebisi, the husband informed the police that the alleged kidnappers initially demanded a ransom of N10 million, which was later negotiated down to N3 million. He reportedly paid N2.5 million, but his wife was not released afterward.
“Upon receiving the complaint, the Command Special Squad immediately deployed both human and technical resources to track the alleged kidnappers,” Adebisi said. “The supposed victim was eventually released and reunited with her family.”
During police debriefing, the woman claimed she had been abducted by six armed men driving a silver Toyota Venza, taken to their hideout, and dispossessed of her iPhone 12 Pro Max. She further alleged that the ransom paid by her husband was first transferred into her bank account before being handed over to the kidnappers.
However, Adebisi noted that investigations uncovered several inconsistencies in her account. She revealed that on December 3, police operatives arrested the accomplice in the Ede area of Osun State. A SIM card used to register the WhatsApp account through which the ransom negotiations were conducted was recovered from him.
“During interrogation, the accomplice confessed that the suspect requested the use of his SIM card to create the WhatsApp account used for negotiating the ransom,” Adebisi said. “He admitted that he provided the one-time password sent to his line, which enabled her to operate the account.”
Following this confession, the woman was confronted and reportedly admitted to faking her own kidnapping in order to extort money from her husband, who resides in South Africa.
Further investigations led to the recovery of the iPhone 12 Pro Max, which the suspect had earlier claimed was with the kidnappers. The phone was recovered from a 34-year-old man who told investigators that he bought it from the suspect for N380,000 after being warned not to insert any SIM card into it.
Adebisi stated that investigations are ongoing and that the suspect and her accomplice will be charged to court upon the conclusion of the investigation. She added that the Commissioner of Police in Lagos State, Mr Olohundare Jimoh, reaffirmed the command’s commitment to safeguarding lives and property, while cautioning the public against false reports, criminal deception, and acts capable of diverting critical security resources.
The police spokesperson urged residents to remain law-abiding and to promptly report suspicious activities through the command’s emergency numbers: 07061019374, 08065154338, 08063299264 and 08039344870.
(NAN)