A 21-year-old sales boy, Tobiloba Olayinka, has been arrested by men of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps, Ekiti State Command, for allegedly plotting to kidnap his boss.

The NSCDC Commandant in Ekiti State, Mr John Fayemi, said the suspect wrote a letter with a fictitious identity to his boss in Ado Ekiti in December, threatening to kidnap him if he failed to deposit N1.5m into a bank account.

Fayemi, who spoke while parading Olayinka alongside two other suspects arrested by the command for different crimes in the New Year, said the suspect was arrested by men of the counter-terrorism squad for threatening to kidnap his employer.

Fayemi said, “Upon discreet investigation, the suspect was arrested on January 8, 2022. The suspect was a sales boy of the victim, but he cooked up a letter using a strange name and account number and demanded a sum of N1.5m or else his employer would be kidnapped.

“But for the quick response of my men, he was botched after a discreet operation. He used a fictitious name, account and telephone number with the intention to defraud his employer. We tracked the phone number and he was arrested. He would be charged to court on completion of ongoing investigation.”

Olayinka, an indigene of Osun State, said the move to kidnap and threaten his boss was only an attempt to raise money for Christmas.

He said, “I did not mean to kidnap him. I thought the threat would give me money. My intention was only to collect money to celebrate Christmas. That was why I wrote the letter threatening to kidnap my boss. I later sent the account where the N1.5m would be paid. The money was not paid before I was arrested.”