A young lady simply identified as Princess has been arrested by the Delta State Police Command for allegedly faking her own kidnap and extorting the sum of N2 million from her mother as ransom.
Findings by The Point revealed that Princess, about 22 years old, had visited her boyfriend, identified as Prince at his house in Asaba, capital of Delta State on December 30, 2024, before planning the fake abduction.
A security source informed The Point that the lady, who is now cooling-off in police custody alongside her boyfriend, specifically asked her lover to call her mother on phone, informing her that she had been kidnapped.
She reportedly asked Prince to tell her mother, who works as a Supervisor at an eatery in Asaba, that if she (Princess’ mother) fails to send the sum of N2 million, her daughter would be killed.
Terrified, Princess’ mother reportedly started paying her daughter’s supposed kidnapper the ransom in installments with the sum of N200, 000.
According to the source, “The two suspects, Princess and Prince are dating, the girl went to her boyfriend’s house on 30th December 2024, and she told her boyfriend to call her parents and tell them she has been kidnapped, he did and demanded for N2,000,000 ransom. The mother reported to the command that her child had been kidnapped, we did our job as usual, the mother got the shock of her life after discovering that the kidnapping was fake and that her daughter planned it. See what children these days are doing to their parents.”
Harrison Gwamnishu, a leader of a non-governmental organisation in Asaba, Behind Bars International, who monitored the case, explained that a colleague of Princess mother had informed him of the development.
He said when the mother showed him the receipts of the money she had been sending, he knew the Point of Sales operator who had been collecting the ransom for the fake kidnapper.
“With the cooperation of the Anti-Kidnapping Unit of the Delta State Police Command, I contacted the PoS agent because he is someone I know after seeing his name and phone number on the payment receipts. I told him that he has been collecting money for kidnappers. He was surprised and promised to help the police in apprehending the criminals.
“So, the moment the lady’s mother finished paying the last tranche of the N2 million ransom, the kidnapper boyfriend went to collect it from the PoS agent and that was how the police got them arrested. They are in custody as I speak,” he said.
Meanwhile, Gwamnishu has asked the Federal Government to regulate PoS operations in the country, saying most kidnappers use them to aid their crimes.
“I think it is high time the Federal Government started regulating PoS business in Nigeria because the kidnappers use them as cheap tools to get money from victims’ families. At least, before anyone can venture into a PoS business, such a person should be duly registered and tutored on how not to fall into the hands of kidnappers who may put him or her in trouble. Most of them don’t know that once their PoS terminal is used for any transactions relating to kidnapping, they will be arrested and charged alongside the kidnappers,” he said.
