A Delta State-based man, Michael James, has allegedly confessed to staging his own kidnap in an attempt to extort ₦25 million from his family.
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James, who said he is from Edo State but resides in Delta State, claimed he resorted to the scheme because he owed his brother and sister money which he had already spent and could not repay.
In an interrogation video shared on Sunday by the Delta State Police Public Relations Officer, Bright Edafe, the suspect narrated how he allegedly abandoned his wheelbarrow after being sent to dispose of refuse and hid in a nearby bush.
According to him, the incident happened on July 1.
“My name is Michael James. I am from Edo State, but I live in Delta State. I kidnapped myself. The reason I kidnapped myself was that I owed my sister and my brother, and I had already spent the money. I had no way of paying it back,” he said.
He explained that after disposing of the refuse, he parked his wheelbarrow and entered the bush instead of returning home.
“On the 1st of this month, they asked me to go and throw away the trash. After throwing away the trash, I parked my wheelbarrow and entered the bush,” he said.
James said his mother later began calling him, but he refused to answer. He thereafter called her back and claimed that he had been kidnapped and that his abductors were demanding ₦25 million as ransom.
“After some time, my mum started calling me, but I did not answer. Later, I called my mum and told her that I had been kidnapped and that the kidnappers were demanding ₦25m. Then I ended the call,” he narrated.
The suspect said he later called his mother again, claiming that the supposed kidnappers were beating him and demanding that ₦700,000 be transferred to them.
He said he became worried after his mother informed him that the police and local vigilantes had been contacted and were already making efforts to rescue him.
“They kept calling me, but I did not answer. Later, when I picked up, I told her that the kidnappers were flogging me and that she should transfer ₦700,000 to them.
“They kept calling again, but I did not answer. When I later picked up, my mum told me that the police and vigilantes were already handling the matter and that they would rescue me,” he said.
James further stated that when it was about to rain later in the day, he left the bush on a motorcycle to another location before calling his family to claim that he had escaped from the kidnappers.
“In the evening, I realised it was about to rain, so I took a motorcycle to another place. I then called them and told them that I had escaped from the kidnappers,” he added.
Reacting to the incident, Edafe said the police received a distress call that James had been kidnapped and immediately deployed digital intelligence to trace his location.
According to the police spokesperson, operatives tracked the suspect to where he was allegedly being held, only for him to run out and claim that he had escaped from his abductors.
“We received a distress call that he was kidnapped. The command embarked on digitally generated intelligence and trailed him to where he was allegedly being kept, only for the suspect to run out, claiming he escaped from the kidnappers,” Edafe said.
He added that the suspect later confessed that he staged the kidnap to extort ₦25 million from his family.
“He later confessed that he kidnapped himself so he could extort his family the sum of ₦25m,” the police spokesperson stated.
The case comes amid growing concerns over self-kidnapping schemes, where individuals exploit fears over insecurity to demand ransom from relatives.
In June, the Ogun State Police Command also arrested eight foreign nationals in Adiyan, Agbado area of the state, over an alleged self-kidnapping scheme designed to extort money from their families abroad.
Police authorities said that case was uncovered through an intelligence-led operation after an initial report of kidnapping.
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Authored by Ben Ijeoma Adigwe Esq., ACiarb (UK), LL.M, Dip. in Artificial Intelligence, Director at the Delta State Ministry of Justice, Asaba, Nigeria.
