A 26 years old woman, Ataghar Namdoo, has been arrested by operatives of the anti-kidnapping unit of the Lagos State Police Command for faking her own kidnap.
She was arrested on Thursday.
The suspect was said to have conspired with her boyfriend, Emmanuel Idu, and Okpe David to produce a short video of herself blindfolded and driven to a bush in a truck.
In the second video, the woman, a mother of one, was seen in a bush at Sangotedo area of Ajah threatened by a man wearing a mask and holding a jack knife.
Police said they later identified the masked man as Emmanuel Idu who is the boyfriend of the girl.
According to a statement issued by the spokesman of the police command in Lagos, Mr. Bala Elkana, the abductors were demanding N10 million as ransom in the video.
The two videos were said to be sent to the employer of the woman with a threat to kill her and to also go after the family of the employer if the ransom was not paid.
It was disclosed that frightened by the threat contained in the video and the follow up calls, the said employer who is into fleet business, reported the case to the Police.
On the receipt of the case, the Commissioner of Police, Hakeem Odumosu, ordered the anti-kidnapping unit to carry out an indepth investigation into the case.
The videos were said to be thoroughly analysed alongside other vital leads.
A well coordinated operation was put in place which led to the successful rescue of the self-arranged victim of the abduction and the arrest of one of the two suspects, Okpe David.
The command was said to have taken steps to verify the claim made by Okpe David that he was a military personnel.
Police have equally launched a manhunt of the second male suspect, Emmanuel Idu, who is on the run.
Okpe David confessed to have provided the truck used in driving the girl to the bush.
The truck was actually driven by him.
He also did the video recordings sent to the employer of the lady.
The three suspects all came from the same state of origin, Benue.
They were said to have known each other for so many years.
Both the lady and the man arrested confessed to the commission of the crime.
They said their aim was to extort money from the lady’s employer which they intended to share among themselves.
The police stated that it was a criminal offence for anyone to fake his or her kidnapping under the Lagos State laws and that the offender upon conviction would be liable to 14 years imprisonment.
The suspects will be charged to court, the police said.
