A teenager staged her own abduction and demanded ₦2 million from her family. Find out how she used a family friend’s house and phone to run the scam.
In a bizarre and troubling turn of events, a 16-year-old female secondary school student in Abakaliki, Ebonyi State, has been arrested for allegedly orchestrating her own kidnapping in a ploy to extort ₦2 million from her unsuspecting family.
The shocking incident was confirmed by the State Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), Mr. Joshua Ukandu, during a press briefing with journalists. According to the police, the SS2 student abandoned her home and took refuge in the house of a family friend — an adult male identified as Edozie — to carry out the fake abduction plan.
Using Edozie’s mobile phone without raising suspicion, the girl contacted her elder brother and fabricated a story that she had been kidnapped by unknown assailants who were demanding a ransom of ₦2 million for her release.
“The brother requested to speak directly with her ‘kidnappers’ to negotiate the ransom and confirm her safety, but she refused and subsequently blocked his number,” the police spokesperson revealed.
Rather than backing down, the girl then provided her brother with a bank account number for the ransom transfer. To the family’s shock, the account belonged to the same man in whose house she was hiding — raising immediate red flags.
Alarmed by the suspicious behavior and inconsistencies, the girl’s family promptly alerted law enforcement authorities. In a swift operation, police officers raided the residence and apprehended both the teenage girl and the unsuspecting host.
Further investigations revealed that the girl had spent one night in the house. She was intercepted the following day while attempting to go out to make a purchase — after family members, suspecting her location, had been closely monitoring the premises.
“We are still conducting further investigations to determine the full extent of involvement of the family friend and if there were others in the house who knew what was going on,” Ukandu stated.
Although the teenager has now been reunited with her family, questions remain about the role of Edozie, especially considering the use of his bank account and mobile phone in the ransom scheme.
The police have not ruled out charges, and the incident has sparked public outrage and concern over the increasing trend of youth involvement in criminal deception, even within family settings.
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