Anambra police arrest two over alleged ₦10m staged kidnap plot

The Anambra State Police Command has arrested two individuals for allegedly staging a fake kidnapping to extort ₦10 million from the family of one of the suspects.

According to a statement issued on Monday by the Command’s Public Relations Officer, SP Tochukwu Ikenga, the suspects 28-year-old Chinecherem Nwokoye and her 30-year-old boyfriend, Chinecherem Aronu were apprehended by operatives of the Rapid Response Squad (RRS) in Awka.

The female suspect, a student of Enugu State University, was reported missing by her family after she claimed she was returning home from school on July 8 but never arrived. Her phone remained unreachable, and by the following day, the family received a ransom demand from an unidentified male caller who claimed responsibility for her abduction.

The caller initially demanded ₦10 million, but after negotiations, the amount was reduced to ₦3 million. A partial payment of ₦1 million was eventually made.

Acting on intelligence, the RRS operatives traced the location of the alleged victim to a lodge near the Nnamdi Azikiwe University temporary site in Awka, where she was found safe and in the company of her boyfriend.

Nwokoye later confessed to orchestrating the fake kidnapping after being inspired by a movie, stating that her intention was to raise money for her boyfriend to start a business.

The state Commissioner of Police, CP Ikioye Orutugu, has ordered the immediate prosecution of the suspects. He described the incident as a disturbing reflection of moral decline among youths and warned that the command would not tolerate such acts of criminal deceit.

Orutugu also urged parents and guardians to closely monitor their children’s activities and the influence of their peers.