26-yr-old arrested for staging self-kidnap, demanding ₦35m ransom

Police operatives in Enugu State’s Trans-Ekulu Division have detained 26-year-old Chibuike Ugwuja for faking his abduction and demanding ₦35 million from his family.

SP Daniel Ndukwe, spokesperson, the Police command in Enugu State, disclosed this in a statement on Monday in Enugu.

Ndukwe said Ugwuja’s father reported his son missing on Nov. 24, after he left for work on Nov. 22 and failed to return.

The suspect allegedly sent a Facebook message to a female neighbour, claiming unknown abductors in a commercial bus were demanding ransom.

Investigations and search efforts were ongoing when the suspect’s father brought him to the police station on Nov. 30, at about 2p.m.

Ndukwe said: “This followed days of intensified search operations by police operatives, who had been working to trace his whereabouts and rescue him.

“Upon interrogation, the suspect confessed to staging the self-kidnap.

“He revealed that after work, he went to a friend’s residence at Amorji Nike, Enugu, rather than returning home, and masterminded the false abduction.

“He demanded ₦35,000,000 from his family but returned home on Nov. 29, at about 9 a.m. after his ransom demands were not met.

“The suspect attributed his actions to frustration over his uncle’s alleged inability to procure a tricycle for him.”

The spokesman added that Ugwuja is in police custody and will be arraigned in court once investigations conclude.

He emphasised that the police are committed to ensuring individuals who abuse public trust face the full weight of the law.

“The Commissioner of Police, Mr Mamman Giwa, described the incident as a regrettable height of criminality and commended the parents for reporting the matter promptly.

“The commissioner reassured the public that the law will take its course and urged citizens to report kidnappings rather than hastily paying ransom demands,” Ndukwe said.