The police have apprehended five suspects in connection with a staged kidnapping involving a viral video of a schoolboy pleading for mercy in what was portrayed as a kidnapper’s den.

The Lagos command’s spokesperson, Abimbola Adebisi, confirmed this in a statement on Friday.

She said that the smart detectives and intelligent operatives of the Anti-Kidnapping Tactical Squad of the command apprehended the suspects, who were between the ages of 15 and 20, on Thursday, at 1:00 p.m., in the Ago Palace area of the state.

“They were apprehended following discreet and intelligence-led investigations into the incident, which had earlier sparked widespread public fear on social media. Preliminary investigations revealed that the incident was initially reported as a missing person case at the Ago Palace Police Division on November 26.

“However, further investigations established that the alleged kidnapping was deliberately orchestrated by the 15-year-old suspected victim, in collaboration with four of his friends,” she said.

Ms Adebisi said that the suspects used the room of one of their associates, a 19-year-old, to stage the fake kidnapping.

The spokesperson said that further investigation revealed that the suspects conspired to fake the kidnapping in order to extort money from the supposed victim’s mother, who had recently received N4 million from a contribution.

She said that the suspects recorded and circulated a distress video showing the supposed victim pleading for help, creating fear and panic within his family.

A ransom of N1.7 million was paid by the suspected victim’s mother and transferred into the account of one of the suspects to secure her son’s release. The money was later shared among the group.

She said the operatives traced the POS terminal used for the transaction, leading to the apprehension of the suspects.

(NAN)