Operatives of the Delta State Police Command have taken into custody a 17-year-old SS3 student, Chiamaka, for allegedly staging her own abduction in a bid to collect ₦500,000 from her widowed mother, who works as a farmer. The command’s spokesperson, Bright Edafe, said the teenager worked with three friends aged 18, 18, and 20 to plan the scheme. She reportedly travelled to Port Harcourt, Rivers State, checked into a hotel, and then phoned her mother to demand ransom for her supposed release.
Edafe explained that the woman, described as a struggling widow, tried frantically to raise the money while also reporting the matter to the police. Detectives soon began to suspect it was a case of “self-kidnapping,” which he said is becoming increasingly common among youths between 15 and 20 years old. He further disclosed that one of the girl’s friends had previously carried out similar fake abductions to extort money from her own mother, influencing Chiamaka to follow suit.
In a recorded confession, the student admitted she helped plan the fake kidnapping, claiming she was pressured by her friends. She said the ₦500,000 they obtained was spent on clothes. “I didn’t really want to do it, but my friends pushed me into it,” she said.
Edafe used the incident to caution young people about the dangers of negative peer influence, stressing that such actions carry serious legal consequences.
