Police arrest man for ‘faking’ his own abduction to extort relatives in Ondo

The Ondo state police command says its operatives have arrested 28-year-old Mathew Ekele for allegedly staging his own kidnap to extort money from his relatives. 

In a statement on Tuesday, Ayanlade Olushola, police spokesperson in Ondo, said operatives arrested Ekele “at a nearby bush along Ogbese Road, where he had positioned himself to collect the ransom after pretending to have been abducted”.

“His motorcycle was also recovered during the operation, providing additional evidence of his involvement,” Olushola added.

The police spokesperson said a “combined team of operatives from Ogbese division, members of Oodua Peoples Congress (OPC), hunters, and vigilantes, was on a routine bush-combing operation at Kashimola/Agunla forest when they intercepted a motorcycle conveying one John Peter ‘m’, 30 years, and James Peter ‘m’, with some cash, which was supposed to be a ransom for their abducted relative”. 

“A thorough search of their belongings led to the recovery of N800,000, one packet roll of Benson cigarettes, and a bottle of Aromatic schnapps, raising immediate suspicion,” he added. 

He said the interrogation of the duo led the operatives to a member of the supposed kidnapping group who had come to collect the ransom. 

“Through intelligence-led policing and concerted operational efforts, one individual who showed up to receive the ransom was immediately arrested,” he said.

“It was discovered that the entire incident was a staged kidnapping engineered by the supposed victim himself.