A Benin City woman has been arrested after allegedly faking her own kidnapping and conspiring with three accomplices to extort fifty million naira from her husband, the Edo State Police Command announced on Tuesday.
Mrs Oluchi Ugbowan, 45, was apprehended at a hotel in Ukwuani Local Government Area of Delta State following a week-long investigation by operatives of the Command’s Anti-Kidnapping Unit.
The scheme unravelled after her husband, Mr Tony Ugbowan of Agbor Road, Benin City, reported to police on June 1 that his wife had gone missing on her way to her shop at Ramat Park. He told investigators he had received a call from a concealed number on May 28 demanding ₦50 million for her release.
Police say their first break came with the arrest of Israel Ability, 28, at Ramat Park, from whom the alleged victim’s mobile phone was recovered. Ability confessed under interrogation that Mrs Ugbowan had hired him to negotiate the ransom with her family while posing as a go-between for her fictitious captors.
The trail then led detectives to Delta State, where Mr Mrsgbowan was found at a hotel on June 5. She subsequently led investigators to the home of an accomplice, Ochukwudem Uwadia, 38, whose residence had been used to film videos showing her with bound hands and feet — footage sent to family members as proof of captivity. Uwadia’s 18-year-old son, Chibuzor Ochukwudem, was identified as the individual seen in the videos pointing a firearm at her head to lend credibility to the ruse.
All four suspects have been taken into custody. A search of the premises resulted in the recovery of the automatic pump-action gun used in the videos.
Edo State Commissioner of Police, Monday Agbonika, praised his operatives for what he described as a painstaking and professional investigation. He cautioned the public against staging false kidnappings, warning that such acts constitute serious criminal offences and drain resources from genuine victims. #Securitynewsalert.com
