The police command in Abuja has arrested four suspects for allegedly staging a fake kidnapping to extort N5 million from the elderly father of two of the suspects.

The FCT command’s spokeswoman, SP Josephine Adeh, disclosed this in a statement on Tuesday.

She said the suspects, including two daughters of the victim, conspired to fake the abduction in the Jikwoyi area of Abuja to demand ransom.

According to Ms Adeh, the arrest followed a report by a resident, Innocent, at the Jikwoyi Divisional Headquarters on July 30, after his 16-year-old daughter left home on July 18 for an exam at Government Secondary School, Karu, and failed to return.

He later received a call to pay a ransom for the release of the girl.

“Upon receipt of the report, the Divisional Police Officer of Jikwoyi Division immediately launched a discreet investigation. Through coordinated intelligence gathering and digital tracking, the phone number used to contact the complainant was traced to a residence in Jikwoyi Phase II.

“Operatives proceeded to the location, where they found the daughter in the company of two of the suspects, all seen eating and conversing freely, indicating no signs of distress,” she said.

Ms Adeh said further investigations led to the arrest of the elder sister of the alleged victim and her boyfriend. She said investigations revealed that the elder sister conspired with her boyfriend— legally married to another woman—to stage her younger sister’s kidnap in a bid to defraud their father of N5 million.

“It was further uncovered that the staged victim was not only aware of the plan but was an active participant. She willingly stayed with the suspects throughout the period of her alleged abduction. The elder sister remained at home and feigned ignorance, watching her parents’ anguish and emotional distress as they struggled to raise money for the supposed ransom,” the police officer said.

She said the four suspects were currently in police custody and had voluntarily confessed to the crime.

(NAN)