Girl, 17, Fakes Kidnap, Extorts N500,000 From Mother

The Delta State Police Command has arrested a 17-year-old girl, who is also a senior secondary school (SSS 3) student, Chiamaka, for allegedly staging her own kidnap and extorting N500,000 from her mother, a peasant farmer.

The command’s spokesperson, SP Bright Edafe, disclosed the arrest in a video he shared on his Facebook page, saying the suspect carried out the act with three of her friends.

The police said Chiamaka and her friends left Ugolo for Port Harcourt, where they lodged in a hotel and executed their plan. While there, she reportedly called her mother and claimed she had been kidnapped, demanding a ransom of N500,000.

Her mother, who reported the matter to the police, described as a widow of modest means, reportedly struggled to raise the money by borrowing from different sources in a bid to secure her daughter’s release.

Edafe said investigations by the command revealed that the incident was not a genuine kidnapping but a staged act.

“While there, she called her mother, claiming she had been kidnapped and demanded money. Her mother, who is a widow and of modest means, went around collecting the money to secure her release. During the process, she reported the incident to the police, and our investigation suggested it was not an actual kidnapping,” Edafe said.

The suspect later confessed to the crime, claiming that the three friends, whom she had recently met, pressured her into committing the act.

“Me and my friends planned to kidnap myself and collect money from my mother,” Chiamaka admitted. I didn’t want to do that.

It’s because of my friends, they forced me to do it,” she said.

According to her, the N500,000 ransom was spent on clothes. “The money, N500,000, we used it to buy clothes,” she added.

Edafe noted that cases of self-staged kidnappings have become increasingly common among 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 scheme,” he said.

At the time of filing this report, the suspect remains in police custody, while efforts are ongoing to apprehend her accomplices.