The Lagos State Police Command has foiled a staged kidnapping and arrested four people involved in the scheme.
The commandโs Public Relations Officer, Benjamin Hundeyin, disclosed this in a statement on Friday.
The statement partly reads: โDetectives of the Lagos States Police Command have arrested Margret Itodo โfโ aged 25, Agnes Ogbeh โfโ aged 23, Esther Anyanwu โfโ aged 24 and Anthony Chinakwe โmโ aged 24 for faking the kidnap of Agnes Ogbeh.
โOn March 19, 2024, Agnes Ogbeh, resident in Akure, had travelled to Lagos and was reportedly kidnapped in Lagos.
โThe family back in Akure received a video showing Agnes and one other tied, gagged, and groaning with blood droplets around them.
โThe โkidnappersโ demanded N5m for the release of Agnes.
โUpon receipt of the complaint, detectives of the command commenced a discreet and diligent investigation into the matter.
โThe hideout was located where Agnes, the other lady in the video and two others were found living freely together.
โFurther investigations revealed that Margaret Itodo is a professional make-up artiste, who was hired to make the video look real.โ
The statement added that all four the suspects had made confessional statements and were to be arraigned at the conclusion of investigation.
PUNCH reported in January how the Nigerian Police Force, through its Lagos, Abuja, and Plateau commands, arrested three suspects for allegedly staging their kidnapping.
The suspects included a couple in Lagos, who staged their kidnap to extort money from their family members.