By Izunna Okafor, Awka
The Anambra State Police Command has arrested a 22-year-old lady, Nwachukwu Chidubem Blessing, over an alleged self-kidnapping scheme in which her family reportedly paid N3 million as ransom.
The incident, confirmed in a statement issued on Sunday by the Police Public Relations Officer of the Command, SP Tochukwu Ikenga, is coming barely six months after the State Police Command arrested two persons for allegedly conspiring with one Obiora Okoye to fake the kidnap of an 18-year-old girl, Mmesoma Ifediora, in Awkuzu, Oyi LGA of the state, and barely one year after the Command similarly arrested another 23-year-old lady, Nmesoma Josephine Nwoye, for allegedly organising her own kidnap, with her boyfriend, 24-year-old Chibuike Ogbu, who also arrested after they had extorted N3 million ransom from her parents.
According to the Police Spokesman, the latest incident was uncovered on Friday, September 18 when the police traced the suspect to a room in Asaba, Delta State where they arrested her, nearly three weeks after she claimed she was abducted along the Onitsha-Asaba Expressway on August 29.
He said the arrest followed sustained investigation by operatives of the Rapid Response Squad (RRS), Awkuzu, after the Command received credible intelligence concerning the reported kidnap.
According to him, Blessing’s parents had paid N3 million as ransom to secure her release, but she was still not released.
The failure to secure her freedom despite the ransom payment prompted further investigation, which eventually led Police operatives to Asaba, where they found the said kidnapped daughter inside a room on the afternoon of September 18.
Ikenga said preliminary findings had raised suspicion that the reported abduction may have been staged by the 22-year-old, in connivance with a male accomplice (suspected to be her boyfriend) whose identity was yet to be established; and with another female associate (identified only as Onyinye).
The Police spokesman said investigators were examining the circumstances surrounding the alleged abduction and ransom payment while the arrested woman is providing information that could assist in identifying the other persons allegedly involved as well as the roles played by the various persons involved.
In his reaction, the Anambra State Commissioner of Police, CP Nnanna Oji Ama, according to Ikenga, directed that the investigation be intensified and that anyone found culpable should be brought to justice in accordance with the law.
The latest case adds to the Police Command’s continuing investigations into kidnapping-related complaints in and around Anambra, with the Command repeatedly relying on intelligence-led operations to establish the circumstances behind reported abductions and track down anyone suspected of involvement.
