The police in Abuja have arrested four people, including two sisters and a married couple, for staging a fake kidnapping to collect N5 million from the girls’ father.
The Federal Capital Territory Police Command said the younger sister, 16-year-old Lead Way Innocent, was reported missing by her father, Mr. Innocent, after she left their home in Jikwoyi Phase II on July 18 to write an exam at Government Secondary School, Karu, and never returned.
According to a statement by FCT Police spokesperson, SP Josephine Adeh, the worried father later got a call from an unknown person demanding N5 million as ransom for the teenager’s release.
“Upon receipt of the report, the Divisional Police Officer of Jikwoyi Division immediately launched a discreet investigation. Through coordinated intelligence gathering and digital tracking, the phone number used to contact the complainant was traced to a residence in Jikwoyi Phase II,” the statement said.
When the police got to the address, they found Lead Way Innocent sitting comfortably with one Mrs. Tina Mayowa. The two were eating and chatting, showing no signs of distress.
Investigations led to the arrest of Lead Way’s elder sister, Joy Innocent, and her boyfriend, Mayowa Adedeji, who is legally married to Tina Mayowa.
Police said the four planned the fake abduction together. “Findings revealed that Joy conspired with her boyfriend to stage the kidnapping of her younger sister in a calculated attempt to defraud their father of N5 million,” Adeh said.
The police confirmed that the missing girl, Lead Way, was fully involved in the plan. “She willingly stayed with the suspects throughout the period of her alleged abduction, while Joy remained at home and pretended not to know anything, watching her parents suffer as they tried to raise the ransom,” the statement added.
FCT Commissioner of Police, Ajao Adewale, condemned the act, calling it a betrayal of trust within the family.
He advised parents to monitor their children closely, saying, “Parents must pay attention to their children’s emotional wellbeing and behaviour, and encourage open and honest conversations at home.”
All four suspects are now in police custody and have confessed to the crime. They will be charged to court once investigations are completed.
