The Lagos State Police Command has arrested a 26-year-old housewife, Misturah Bada, and her accomplice, Adedamola Daniel, for allegedly staging her own kidnapping to extort N2.5 million from her husband, who lives in South Africa.
The suspects were apprehended by operatives of the command’s Special Squad for offences including false kidnapping, conspiracy, and extortion, the police said.
According to a statement by the state police spokesperson, Abimbola Adebisi, the saga began on November 24 when Bada’s husband reported that armed men had abducted his wife and demanded a ransom of N10 million, later reduced to N3 million.
“A sum of N2.5 million was subsequently paid by the husband, yet the supposed kidnappers refused to release the victim,” the statement read.
Police said Bada was eventually “released and reunited with her family” before being invited for questioning.
During interrogation, she claimed she had been seized by six men in a silver Toyota Venza and dispossessed of her iPhone 12 Pro Max.
She also alleged that the ransom paid by her husband was first transferred into her bank account before being handed over to the kidnappers.
Further investigations, however, revealed “several inconsistencies” in her account.
On December 3, Daniel was arrested in Ede, Osun State, and police recovered a SIM card used to register a WhatsApp account through which ransom negotiations were conducted.
Daniel confessed that Bada had requested his SIM card to operate the WhatsApp account, providing the one-time password that allowed her to carry out the scheme.
Confronted with the evidence, Bada admitted faking her own kidnapping to extort money from her husband.
Police also recovered the iPhone 12 Pro Max from Yusuf Sodiq, 34, who admitted purchasing it from Bada for N380,000. He revealed that he was warned not to insert a SIM card into the phone at the time.
The Lagos State Police Command said the investigation is ongoing and that the suspects would be charged to court upon its conclusion.
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