Police arrest nine over alleged staged kidnap

The police in Niger State have arrested no fewer than nine suspects in connection with alleged self-kidnapping and unlawful business activities in the state.

The state police spokesperson, Wasiu Abiodun, said the incident began on September 2, when, at around 10 p.m., the police received a report of a suspected kidnapping in the Mandela area of Minna.

He said a call was also received from a strange phone number requesting a ransom of N7 million.

According to him, on September 3, Suleiman Dauda, a suspect, was arrested in connection with the crime. The suspect’s interrogation led to the arrest of eight others in the Mandela area.

Mr Abiodun disclosed that during a search, 21 SIM cards and 29 SIM certificates were recovered from Mr Suleiman, who claimed he deals in SIM card registration.

The police spokesperson said the suspect also admitted to giving the phone number and handset used to request the ransom.

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Mr Abiodun stated that further findings revealed the suspects are from different locations within and outside the state, engaging in a fraudulent Ponzi scheme. It was also discovered that one of their cohorts arranged with the purported victim to extract ransom from their colleagues.

Mr Abiodun stated that the investigation is ongoing with a view to locating and arresting others, while the suspects arrested have been charged in court.